Buck vs his own world
by Nutcase friend
Summary: A story of Bucks past and present. The herd is only mentioned once, so aren't a big part of the story. Buck is faced with his old enemy, who happens to be going out with Bucks old love. A story of adventure, love and a whole lot of crazy.
1. Chapter 1

This is my first fan fiction, so could anyone please leave a review! I need to see what others think of it. I've read some really impressive fan fictions about Buck, so i hope mine is just as good. Please tell me if i have done something unrealistic or wrong. Also, Buck and Rudy's rights reserved to Blue sky, and i do not own Buck or Rudy as characters. The other characters are my oc's.

"Jai, the trap, NOW!" Buck yelled to his brother. Jai cut the vine rope, letting the trap fall from the tree tops, and land straight over the top of the saber tooth tiger. It roared loudly as he realized the confined space around him. Jai and Buck slapped palms. "Mad timin' skills bro." Buck said to his brother.  
"Couldn't have tried it out, if you hadn't annoyed that saber." Jai returned.  
"Hey, it's wha' I do." Together they quickly ran away from the struggling saber, for it would break out soon. They soon reached a hollow in the ground under a tree. Buck smiled at the familiar sight.  
"Oh great, they're back honey." Exclaimed their mother in sarcasm as she saw the two brothers enter.  
"Love you too mum." Said Buck, then winked at his mum. She rolled her eyes then smiled at both of them. Their father came in.  
"So, what have you two been up to today, hmm?" He asked as he went and sat on one of the rocks that had been ground until it formed a chair.  
"The usual." Jai exclaimed casually. Too casually. Their father laughed, spotting the claw mark on Bucks shoulder.  
"You'll have to see Oma about that." He said to Buck.  
"Dad, it's fine." Buck said with a groan. He could see Jai biting back a laugh.  
"No, I won't have this argument again. Go see her, now." His father said, pointing to the exit. Buck cursed under his breath, then left the tree. He could hear his brother giggle behind him. Why were older brothers so mocking? They were a year apart, and Jai was the best brother in the world, but nonetheless, was still a brother. Buck walked a few hundred meters, reaching a small hollow in the ground. His father always sent him to see Oma, even when he had the tiniest little scratch. Admittedly, this one was quite deep, and stung a lot, but he would get over it. He had to get used to pain, if he wanted to survive in the wild. He didn't have a bad relationship with his parents (Jai was still closer to them than Buck was), but he liked taking off all the time, and he loved being independent, hanging with his friends, and doing everything that was crazy. What he was doing right NOW was crazy. He didn't need treatment…  
He stopped dead at the sight of the caramel blond fur. His breath caught it his throat and his eyes widened. Lucy…the most beautiful she-weasel in the world. They had been great friends ever since they were kits, but recently, Buck had started feeling nervous around her, always acting chilled, or making sure he looked good when she was around. It annoyed him actually, because he had no idea what he was feeling these days about her. But he knew how he would _usually_ act around her. As casual as could be. He almost strolled in, and when she spotted him, put on a mocking smile. She smiled back. Then she saw the scratch. Her face immediately changed to concern.  
"Buck! What happened!?" she screeched.  
"Calm down. Lucy, I get hurt all the time!"  
"Not this badly."  
"Not you too! Why does everyone think I'm gonna die! It's not even bad." he said annoyed.  
"You tempt fate once too often." She said quietly, walking over to him. He stood still and let her come to him. When she reached him, she was barely half an inch away from his chest. He hoped she couldn't hear his heart beating faster.  
"Lucy, you should know already, I'm invincible." He whispered, looking down into her bright green eyes. His were a bright blue. Weird…both of their eye colors were really rare in the weasel genealogy. God, her eyes. They were like emerald, the way they reflected light. There had always been a shine to them, even at night when there was no source of light to be found. She returned the whisper, saying,  
"I just don't want you to get seriously hurt."  
"Why not? Regal does, and his friends."  
"But they're not me." She was now so close he could feel her warm fur pressing into his. He grabbed her shoulder softly, then leaned down, then whispered to her face,  
"Thank God for that, too. If they were as beautiful as you, the world would fall apart." He then pulled away from her, afraid he wouldn't be able to hold in the feeling building in his chest. He knew what the feeling was now. It was…love. And not just sisterly love, but...romantic. He hadn't ever really been interested in dating anyone, guys as well as girls, and was only interested in adventure. But now…he had to stop himself from holding her in his arms and just kissing her! Buck was almost overwhelmed with the thought. He walked away from her, not tempting the thought to turn into action. He went to go down a tunnel, when something nagged him. He turned around and went back to where Lucy was.  
"Hey, what are you doing here anyway?" he asked.  
"Oh, I'm collecting herbs form Oma. It's kind of my new job."  
"Well, that's _kinda_ cool." He said, making sure he emphasized the _kinda_. "Also, do you know where she is?"  
"Yeah, she's in her usual room."  
"Thanks. See ya later." But before he turned to leave, he heard Lucy's voice cry out,  
"Wait, Buck are you going to the waterhole tonight, to meet up with the others at the party?" she asked.  
"Oh, I completely forgot. Yea, I am, so I'll see you there tonight then." He said.  
"Cool." Then he left. She watched him leave.  
Buck entered the room where Oma usually did her healing work.  
"Hey Oma." Buck greeted. Oma turned, then groaned when she spotted the deep scratch on his shoulder.  
"What was it this time?" she asked in annoyance.  
"Saber." He replied smiling, but when he saw her stern face, frowned.  
"You will get seriously hurt one day, having your stupid adventures." She said, shaking her head. Her grey fur slightly glistened when the firelight caught it. She was small, old, but extremely brainy. She had been healing Buck and other weasels for generations, and some said she worked magic. Buck believed it.  
"Who's going to care?" he said, giggling slightly. Oma looked at him, clearly remembering that Buck had a low self-esteem.  
"A lot of weasels." She said.  
"Oh yeah? Name one."  
"Turn around you dumbass." She said. He obeyed. He spotted Lucy in the entrance of the tunnel, a frown on her face, and slightly shaking her head. She then turned and left as soon as they made eye contact. Buck hung his head. Would she actually care, if he got hurt? Would anyone? He was a crazy idiot, doing things that no other weasel does. He temps fate, gets chased, injured, and it's all for fun. Sure he gave the little kits rides on his back, and shows them cool places that were safe to hang and play. Sure he helps where he can for the less fortunate who don't know where to get food that none else knows about, but really, if he was injured or killed, he would just be another weasel. Dead or injured weasel. He did know that a couple of girls had crushes on him though. They thought he was caring. He got it from his mum. He had his mother's fur colour as well, a red-brown that helps him hide in rocky areas or trees. A lot of weasels don't climb trees because one, most of them are scared of heights, and two, they live in caves or burrows. But Buck loved heights, and feeling the wind in his fur as he breathed in huge gulps of fresh air. He found confined spaces bothered him, that he didn't like to be caged. So how was anyone going to miss him? He turned back to Oma, who was looking at him with…Pity?  
"Come here," she said, "I'll heal that wound."  
"Thanks." He went and sat on the pile of leaves that served as a bed. Oma started cleaning the wound. She had slightly taught him about herbs, and what he could use if he wasn't near a healer. They were silent, which was unusual for both of them. Buck couldn't take it any longer.  
"Oma, do you seriously think that anyone would care?"  
"As I said, a lot of us would. You're a very caring weasel, helping those you can. You are also quite attractive for a 15 year old boy like yourself, only a couple could match you for looks."  
"Regal is better looking." Buck said with a snarl. Regal was a weasel older by a year, same age as Jai, and was always picking on them both. Sometimes he even hurt them. Regal had blood red fur. His father had the same colour, and his grandfather and so on, so on. He had their attitude too. Cruel, conniving, evil, bastards, only caring for themselves, always taking advantage of the unfortunate. It made Buck so mad. Jai was even worse with Regal, because the red weasel keeps hitting on Anna, Jai's girlfriend. Anna and Lucy were best friends, and always hung around each other, so Buck never got a moment alone with Lucy. This was good though, because he wouldn't know what to say to her if she got alone with him. Would Lucy care if he got hurt? He asked Oma this, who looked at him annoyed.  
"Of course she would! She's been your friend since you two were kits."  
"Well, recently I…never mind."  
"You like her more than a friend, don't you?" She asked, smiling. Buck looked at her in shock. It was that obvious? Damn. He hung his head, embarrassed. Oma laughed. "Don't be ashamed. She is beautiful."  
"Are you kidding?!" Buck yelled, "She's the most beautiful! And she's always looking out for others, even if she doesn't like them. She's an angel, a goddess!" Buck saw the look on Oma's face. "Did I say that aloud?" Oma laughed again.  
"Boy, you are in love."  
"So, you don't think it's just a crush?" Buck asked.  
"There's a difference between them. But I know you're in love."  
"How?"  
"I just know."  
"That's helpful. How do you stop it?"  
"Why would you want to stop being in love?" Oma asked confused, starting to wrap his shoulder in a leaf bandage.  
"I'm not the right guy for her. She's so…perfect. I'm too crazy, and she might get hurt, mentally or physically, trying to hang around me." Buck said sadly.  
"You wouldn't hurt her." Oma said simply.  
"I know, but I do dangerous stunts and get chased by sabers, snakes, wolves and an array of dangerous creatures. I would never forgive myself if she got hurt." He said. The thought made his heart tear. An image flashed in his head. Lucy was in between the jaws of a wolf. Buck shook his head of the thought. He had to stop being in love with her, but how?  
_You can't_ a voice said in his head. Damn. Once Oma had finished her work, he thanked her, then left. The sun was starting to set outside. It hadn't reached the horizon yet. Good. Buck loved to watch the sunset on a cliff by the sea. He started heading in that direction, running as fast as he could. When he reached it, the sun was just starting to touch the water out on the horizon. Buck sat down at the base of a tree, and sighed with contempt. He loved being away from his home, parents and…Regal. That red weasel made him so mad. His father, Dex, was even worse. He hunted every animal he could take on. Buck had even seen him slay a baby turtle for the fun. Sure, weasels were known for aggression, but only by defensive standards. Dex just went out and killed stuff, and letting his son come with him. Buck annoyed other animals, put sabers in traps and threw rocks at wolves, but never did he kill anything, he actually befriended a lot of the herbivores. It was fun, riding on the back of a gazelle, or just chillin' with a possum. Possums were probably the coolest animals Buck hung with. They had a boisterous attitude that Buck loved. But he still thought weasels were cool, well most of them anyway. Buck sighed again, the orange glow of sunset shining on his fur. He loved the sunset, and the night-time, and frankly loved the day time just as much. But sunsets were the best, the stars coming a close second. His whole body felt relaxed, his mind forgetting about the troubles of that day. Slowly, he could feel his guard going down. Not for long though. A rustling came from the bush behind him. He jumped up, ready to run, fight or just say hi, depending on who or what it was. Lucy stepped out of the bush. Her hair was a little ruffled from the leaves. He walked over, pretending his heart wasn't beating like a gazelle on the run. He reached up and smoothed her hair out, smiling. She smiled shyly back.  
"Come and watch the sunset with me." Buck said quietly. It'd be awesome of she joined him, making the sunset even better. She nodded her head, but still didn't say anything. They sat down on the grass underneath the tree. Buck put his head against the trunk, and closed his eyes, letting happiness swirl around him. He listened to the crickets, and the sounds of the land he lived on. After the sun had gone down completely, the after-light starting to fade, Buck opened his eyes again. Lucy hadn't moved away, but had leaned against the tree like him. Their shoulders were touching, and Buck decided not to move, otherwise it would make things awkward. Buck looked up at the sky, the stars twinkling on the blue-black background. Buck then looked back at Lucy. Her eyes were reflecting the stars light.  
"Whoa, your eyes look more beautiful than ever, if that's even possible. Come to think of it, it's not." Buck said. Lucy looked at him weirdly. Crap. "Umm…Did I say that aloud? Again?" Lucy tried to hide her smile, but was failing badly. She then just smiled and said,  
"I heard what you said to Oma."  
"More like what I yelled at Oma." Buck said automatically. Lucy laughed.  
"Yeah, that. Did you mean it though?"  
"'Course, why not. What I "yelled" back there was true. Every word of it." Lucy looked astonished. "You know," Buck continued on, "You made this sunset the best in my life…so far." He couldn't help saying it. She tried to not look more surprised, but she couldn't hide from him. He looked her straight in the eye, smiled and said, "Were you really worried? About me getting hurt and stuff?"  
"Of course! If you got hurt, I'd be really upset Buck." She said quietly, then reached for his hand. She held it. Buck squeezed hers gently in response and said just as quietly,  
"I ain't gonna get hurt. As I told you, I'm invincible."  
"Don't take that thought too seriously." She said. Buck laughed, but the frown still remained on Lucy's lips. Why was everyone so worried? He had been getting in danger and getting hurt since he was a small kit, and all of a sudden everyone was making sure he was Ok. Even Jai had looked at him a little concerned when Buck had copped the sabers claws to his shoulder. Usually Jai would put on a cocky smile. Why were things different now? Through Lucy's hand, Buck could feel her heart beat. It was a nice pace, and her smooth paw felt soft against his rough palms. They were rough from the years of running from danger, on two legs and four. Buck closed his eyes, trying to concentrate on what he was feeling right now, so that he could remember this moment for years to come. He wanted to remember all the great things in his life, and this was one of them. Suddenly Lucy gasped at something. Bucks defensive system kicked in right away. He was up, eyes wide open, Lucy held close, and his eyes were scanning the brush-land for a danger. Lucy laughed at his response, then Buck realized that he had gotten the wrong idea about her gasp completely. Buck smiled, relaxed a little, but still didn't let go of Lucy. She didn't pull away either.  
"What were ya gasping at if it wasn' danger?" he asked, smiling.  
"We were going to the waterhole tonight, to meet up with the others." Lucy responded. Buck suddenly felt like he didn't want to go. He just wanted to be here…With Lucy in his arms. She was facing him now. His arms were around her back, and hers were around his neck.  
"I don' want to go. I just…Don' feel like it." He said to her.  
"I don't really feel like it either. It's nicer here." She said, then looked nervously away from his face.  
"What is it?" he asked.  
"It's just that…well, I'm worried about you."  
"You always are."  
"But recently, I think you're in more danger." Buck didn't know what she meant.  
"How so?"  
"Well, Regal's getting madder at you and your brother."  
"So?"  
"I think he'll try to hurt you, because he's getting sick of being outwitted by you. I heard him plotting it the other day. That's why when I saw you with the scratch, I freaked out more than usual because I thought it might have been him."  
"That's all ya worried about?" Buck laughed, and she looked at him darkly, then pulled away, but that still didn't stop Buck from laughing.  
"You think it's funny?!" she yelled at him, "This is serious Buck!" Buck shut his mouth immediately, seeing her concern. He then tried to talk without giggling.  
"Lucy, I'll be fine. Don' worry about me."  
"What if he does try to hurt you?"  
"Then I'll break his bloody neck." Lucy looked shocked at his dark response. "He's hurt with Anna, Jai and myself since we were just' small kits, he deserves a good knock to his fat head." Lucy still looked concerned. Buck sighed. "I'll be careful to avoid him. You know me, nothin' can sneak up on me from a mile away. I'll know he's around before he knows I'm even nearby! He'll never get close, I promise" Lucy looked as she might cry. Buck smiled in a comforting way, "Come here." He said, and she walked into his arms, put her head on his chest, and put her arms around his neck again. He smiled, and put his head on hers. He then heard her whisper into his chest,  
"Can you keep that promise?"  
"Haven't I always?" and they stayed like that for a minute or two. Then Lucy lifted her head, her nose almost touching his. At the same time, they both closed their eyes, and leaned forward to each other. Just when their lips touched, a voice rang in Bucks head.  
_She deserves someone better  
_He pulled away quickly, opening his eyes.  
"What's wrong?" Lucy asked.  
"It's just, you deserve someone better Lucy." He said, still not looking at her. His ears laid back against his skull, feeling the emotions rising up inside him.  
"What? No Buck. I want to be with you." She said quietly, trying to reassure him.  
"I'm just too wild. I can' be controlled, an' I'm a stupid lunatic." He said, while he reached up, and gently pulled her arms from around his neck. He looked at her once again. She looked hurt, but he ignored it. "I'm just not the right guy."  
"I thought that, well, that you liked me." Buck pricked his ears up and stared at her while he said,  
"Lucy, I friggin' love you. You're the most caring, funny, chilled girl I've ever met. You're beautiful." He said, but then added, "But I'm not. You're perfect, I'm the opposite."  
"Buck, you have the lowest self-esteem, and yet you're the most caring weasel out there." she said, smiling. He tried to smile back, but it failed. "Look, you just have to look at the others around you. Do you see Regal giving a child his own food? Do you see my cousin Steve give little kits a ride on his back? Do you see anyone else help that mole hog family whose burrow got flooded during the monsoon? No, because you do all that. You take care of everyone, even if you don't know them. This is why I like you so much. This is why…I love you." She said nervously. Bucks heart skipped a beat. He knew he loved her too, but she could do so much better. She was just so perfect!  
"Lucy…"  
"No Buck. I won't hear it. You're the most selfless person I know, always helping others…" Buck cut Lucy off. He knew that what he was doing would break both their hearts, but it was the right thing. It would stop Lucy from making a terrible mistake.  
"You need to find someone better." He said simply. Lucy looked hurt at first, then started to get angry.  
"You just don't know how great you are! You need to see that Buck! Even right now, you're trying to do this to protect me. But what is there to protect me from? You are not a monster that lurks in the dark. You just have the lowest self-esteem. Please, just try to think about yourself for once. What do you want?" she asked the last bit quietly. Buck decided to be honest. He took a deep breath, and readied himself for giving a speech.  
"I want to just hold ya in my arms and just kiss ya. I want to swing through the trees with you by my side. I want to wake up every mornin' and see your beautiful face looking straight back into mine. But…" he trailed off. He turned away from her and faced the sea, his voice getting bolder "I want you to be safe. I want to know that you will be in no danger. But if you have fallen in love with me, there is no guarantee of that. That's why you have to_ not_ fall in love with me." He said the last bit sadly. He wanted them to be together, but she couldn't be safe with him. "If you got hurt, I'd be so depressed, I have no idea what I would do…"  
"Buck." Lucy came up next to him, and tried to grab his hand. He slowly pulled it away, closing his eyes.  
"I'm so sorry Lucy. This is to protect you." Lucy frowned. She started to hear the sounds of the party at the waterhole. Her best friends Jessica and Sasha would be looking for her there. All of a sudden, Lucy wanted to go there and cry in their arms. They had known for a long time that Lucy had liked Buck, and now that Lucy had been rejected by him, she needed their support. No, he hadn't rejected her. He had rejected himself. He was trying to protect her. She was disappointed and sad, but she knew that Buck loved her back, because of what he was trying to do.  
"It's alright Buck. I understand." She said. Buck looked as if he was about to cry. But he wouldn't. He never cried, and was never scared. He was a rock. He was a rock, but Lucy still loved him. She started to turn and walk off.  
"Lucy?" Buck said, and Lucy turned back to him.  
"Yes?"  
"Please don't hate me for this. I love you…and that's why I'm trying to protect you."  
"I know. Don't worry. Nothing will change. We'll still hang out, and act as if nothing happened." Lucy said. She would like for them to still be best friends. Buck smiled.  
"Thanks. See ya Lucy."  
"Bye Buck." Lucy turned again, and started walking to the inviting sounds of the party. Buck watched her go. Her fur was rippling in the breeze, and it reflected the glow of the moon. She looked as if she had been dipped in silver. It made Bucks heart pump faster. She was so beautiful. He had to let her go. She had to forget about her feelings for him, and he had to do the same. If what Lucy said was true, and Regal was planning on hurting him, then that was more of a reason for Buck to protect Lucy. If Regal found out that they were dating, Regal would go straight to Lucy and try to hurt her. He was just that kind of guy. Pure evil, wrapped in blood red fur. Buck climbed the tree he was leaning against. He could hear the sounds of the party. He felt like going now, but he couldn't. Lucy was there. He couldn't turn up and all of a sudden look happy. He didn't feel happy. His heart was torn. Besides, Lucy would have told Sasha and Jessica about what just happened…Crap! They'd be after him. Especially Jessica. They'd kill him for upsetting Lucy!  
_Great! I'm dead meat. Jess is gonna skin me and use it as a throw rug._ He thought, but still he smiled. They wouldn't really. Jessica and Sasha were great friends, to Buck as well as Lucy. Still, they would like to have a little "chat" with Buck, asking him why he hadn't just kissed Lucy. Buck laughed at the thought of himself being tied to a tree, fire all around, and Jessica standing over him with a whip in hand. She was really overprotective of those she loved and cared for. Buck remembered and incident where another female weasel had started being mean to Sasha about her blond fur. Jessica had tackled the female to the ground, and slapped her. That female had never bothered anyone since. Buck looked up at the stars, wishing upon them, that Regal wouldn't hurt Lucy, or Jai, or Anna, or anyone. That's what he wished anyway.

Lucy had arrived at the party. She wasn't crying, and she didn't think she would. Buck still loved her, and was trying to care for her. Maybe it was for the best. But she still felt sad. Jessica spotted this straight away when Lucy found them among the other weasels.  
"What happened girl?" She asked, her almost black eyes staring anxiously at Lucy. She had the darkest brown fur, hiding her easily in the dark. Sasha was the opposite. She was as blond as could be, but not mentally. She was quite shy, but really brainy. She was also looking at Lucy with concern. Jessica led them away from the party, to small hang over of a rock that was sitting at a weird angle. "Come on girl, tell us what happened?" Jess asked again.  
"Well…" Lucy started.

Buck woke with a start. He had fallen asleep and was still in the tree. Pale grey light told him dawn was just a few minutes away. Something suddenly hit him in the back of the head. He didn't bother turning, but just sat there. He had suspicions of what it was. Another thing hit him in the head.  
"BUCK! Wake up!" Damn! Buck turned to find Jessica staring at him from the ground. She had a pebble in her hand, ready to throw. So that's what had hit him. Buck could feel the pain in the back of his head from where the pebble had hit its mark. She had a real good aim. Buck knew what was coming next.  
"I'm awake." He groaned, rubbing the back of his head.  
"Get down from there." she snarled. Buck sighed.  
"How do I know you won't rip me limb from limb if I come down."  
"You'll just have to find out yourself won't you." She said, dropping the pebble and putting her hands on her hip. Buck smiled and called,  
"Maybe you should come up!"  
"You now that's not going to happen." Buck swung off the branch and landed neatly on the ground near Jess. She looked at him, unimpressed. She'd seen him do better stunts than that. "Are you going to explain to me why you didn't kiss Lucy?" she asked smugly.  
"Did Lucy tell you?" he asked, trying to copy her attitude.  
"Well, she said that you were trying to protect her, and that she might be hurt going out with you. That's what you said to her." Jess said.  
"And she's right. She will be hurt if she goes out with me. You know how Regal wants to have a go at me?" He asked, and Jess nodded. "He would get Lucy and hurt her if he really wanted to hurt me…mentally. That's why I didn't kiss her." He said strongly. Jess looked defeated. She knew that he was trying to save Lucy, so gave in and let the topic drop.  
"She still loves you." She said quietly. Buck turned away, and said.  
"I know. I still love her too, but if what everyone says is true, and Regal does want to hurt me, then I can't get too close to Lucy."  
"You're right. I'm sorry I threw a rock at your head."  
"No sweat. Now, I better get home, mum won't like that I stayed out all night."  
"Alright. See you later Buck."  
"Seeya Jess." And with that, Buck ran in the direction of home. He wasn't looking forward to getting there. His mum would be so mad, and his dad annoyed. Jai would just snicker, but he would try to make Buck feel better by telling him that something funny happened. Jai always did that. He knew that one thing that made Buck feel better was a funny story. When Buck saw the hollow he stopped. He took a deep breath and walked in.  
"Buck! Where have you been?" Screeched his mother.  
"Sorry mum. I fell asleep in a tree." He said the wrong thing. He'd completely forgotten that is mum hated him climbing trees. She gasped.  
"A tree! You could have fallen out!" she said worriedly.  
"Ah, but I didn't." Buck said smiling. He always used this excuse. When his mum would say, _you could have drowned, _he would always say, _but I didn't. _He used it for everything. He used it right now.  
"What if a bear had seen you!? It would have climbed up there and snatch you!"  
"But one didn't." Buck said trying not to laugh. Just as his mum was about to come up with another 'you could have…' story, Jai walked in.  
"Oh, there you are. I just went out looking for you." He said to Buck.  
"Sorry for the trouble." Buck apologized.  
"Don't apologize. Mum was having a fit, so I used it as an excuse to get away." Jai said with a smirk. Their mother put her hands on her hips.  
"Just don't do it again, ok?" she said to Buck.  
"Yes Mum." He said, and walked to his room. Jai followed him.  
"Buck, I need to tell you something." Jai said.  
"Yeah? What is it?" Buck said, flopping onto the leaf bed that was suspended from the ground by a rock.  
"Well, Regal's planning to hurt us I think."  
"I know."  
"Should we tell Mum and Dad?"  
"Nah. It would just make them worry. We'll wait for him to make the first move. If he does hurt us, then we'll tell them. He hasn't done anything yet, so we'll wait."  
"Ok." Jai still seemed troubled.  
"What is it Jai?" Buck asked.  
"Well, he's been flirting with Anna quite a lot lately. She's told him he's a jerk, and he got mad. I'm worried he'll try hurt her."  
"Yeah I'm a bit worried about Lucy too." Buck said without thinking. Jai perked his ears up and looked at Buck.  
"You mean, you and Lucy are finally going out?" he asked excitedly.  
"What? Oh. Well, no. We were about to kiss last night, but then I was worried Regal would hurt her, like you said, so I pulled back. Wait…what do you mean by _finally _going out?" Jai looked at the ground and said,  
"Everyone has been waiting for you to ask her out. We all know you like her." Buck growled a little. Great, now everyone's going to know about him_not_ asking her out. Hooray.  
"Well, we're not going out." Buck said. Jai frowned. "That's not the point though. The point is, how we are going to protect Ann and Lucy."  
"We'll just have to stay around them. Always making sure that someone's with them, so that Regal can't get to them."  
"Good idea. Let's go find them now." Buck said. The two brothers ran out of their home to get to their usual hang out place. It was a small pond next to some boulders. When they got there, Anna, Lucy, Jessica, Sasha, Steve (Jai's best friend) and Trevor (Buck's best friend) were there. Buck and Jai looked at each other in relief. Lucy and Anna were safe…for now.  
"Buck, Jai, catch." Trevor said, and threw the brothers each a berry. They bit into the sweet fruits, smiling with delight. Jai used the red juice as lipstick, and swung his hips as he walked, trying to imitate a feminine figure. Everyone laughed. Anna jumped down from her spot on a boulder and said,  
"You're doing it wrong. It's like this this." She said, and started walking towards Jai in a flirting way. She fluttered her eyelids when she reached him. Jai tried to go in and kiss her, but Anna turned and flicked his nose with her tail, then walked back to Lucy. Everyone went _oooh. _Jai's draw dropped as Anna said, "That's how you do it."  
"Yeah Jai. You make a terrible girl." Mocked Buck.  
"I suppose you've had experience." Trevor shot at him with a laugh. Everyone cracked up. Buck went along with it and flicked his hair with his paw and fluttered his eyes like Anna had.  
"He sure looks like one." Said Steve.  
"Hey Jai, you have a little sister!" yelled Jess.  
"Just because you're more male than female Jess!" said Sasha.  
"Um, offended!" said Jess with a joking gasp. This joke went on for several minutes. They were all laughing and insulting each other. The best thing about weasels was that they could take a joke. It was all a joke until Regal turned up. He stepped out from behind a boulder, with his best friend Jeremy by his side.  
"Frankly I think all of you look like girls." Regal said, a smile creeping across his lips.  
"Try checking your reflection." Jai shot back. Laughter erupted around him. Jai looked triumphant.  
"Why? Do you like my face?" Regal said, trying to make the joke on Jai.  
"No. I hate it. If I punched it, it would make it look _better._" Returned Jai.  
"Maybe you should look at _your _reflection." Regal said.  
"Oh please, Jai's a million times better looking than you." Said Anna, getting down room her boulder again to stand next to Jai.  
"Yeah. He gets it from me." Buck said, lifting his head with a smirk. Everyone apart from Regal and Jeremy laughed.  
"That's disgusting. It also proves you are a girl." Said Jeremy.  
"Heck yes!" yelled Buck, who raised his eyebrow and flicked his hips from side to side.  
"Hey sis. Don't interrupt. Regal and I are having a hatred competition." Jai said to Buck.  
"Oh, I'm sorry. I thought I was flirting with Regal." Buck said in a high pitched voice, trying to sound like a girl.  
"You could do a lot better than _Regal_." Lucy said.  
"Yeah. I guess I could." Buck said in the same voice, and went and sat in Trevor's lap. Trevor turned to him and said,  
"Hello darling." Laughter got louder and louder as Buck and Trevor pretended to make out. They didn't actually meet lips, but made sounds that made all their friends laugh. Buck eventually jumped off Trevor's lap.  
"Just a bit gay." Said Regal.  
"It's hard work." Buck said laughing. Lucy had fallen off the rock from laughter.  
"Man down!" Yelled Sasha, then jumped on top of Lucy. They giggled until Steve helped them stand. Buck shot a look at Regal and Jai. They were both staring at each other in hatred.  
"Hey bro," Buck yelled, trying to divert Jai's attention. Buck could feel the tension between Regal and Jai grow, and didn't want a fight to start. "You should take Steve on a date someday. I think you guys would be a great couple."  
"Yeah. Go make out with your crush Jai." Spat Regal.  
"Oooh, what's wrong? You jealous?" Said Lucy to Regal.  
"Nice one!" said Buck, and gave Lucy a high-five. They both started laughing at Regal's look of hatred.  
"I've got better things to do than stay around here and listen to you guys." Said Regal, then he started to trudge off, but not before he gave Buck and Jai the most malicious look he could muster. After he disappeared, the group of friends cracked up laughing. Lucy fell off the rock again, but this time Buck caught her.  
"Nice catch." She said, trying not to make it awkward.  
"You're light enough." Buck replied, then put her down.  
"Yeah, she's bloody anorexic!" Yelled Jess.  
"Just 'coz you've got a fat butt." Steve said.  
"Would you like some?" she said, then stood up and slapped her butt. Everyone laughed.  
"Did you guys see the look on Regal's face when I told him Jai looked a million times better than him?" Said Anna loudly.  
"I thought he wouldn't be that surprised." Buck said.  
"Oh, Buck, just to tell you. You are a fantastic kisser." Trevor said.  
"Why thank you." Said Buck, who fluttered his eyes.  
"Too bad Lucy didn't get some of that." Said Jess, who narrowed her eyes at Buck. She was still mad about that? Buck saw Lucy roll her eyes at Jess.  
"Kind of is a bit sad, yeah." Said Buck, who climbed up the other bolder and sat next to Trevor, not looking at anyone. Jai climbed up next to him and gave him a pat on the back and said,  
"You'll get your chance, don't worry."  
"Bloody hope so." Said Buck. Buck saw out of the corner of his eye that Lucy looked a little shocked. Soon the friends started talking about everyday stuff, and nobody mentioned the thing between Buck and Lucy again. It grew late, and sunset was almost upon them.  
"Hey, who wants to go watch the sunset on my favorite cliff?" Buck asked. All of his friends raised their paw. He led them quickly through the snow to the cliff he had sat on the night before. When they reached there, the sun was just touching the horizon.  
"I've never actually watched it like this." Anna said in wonder. Jai wrapped his arm around her shoulder and said,  
"Well, this is what it's like."  
"It's amazing." She said. Buck watched them with a smile on his face. His brother was really happy with her. Buck and Jai started singing their favorite songs. They both had wonderful voices. The group of friends watched the sunset in a certain kind of happiness, with Buck and Jai singing to the horizon. It's hard to describe, but they all felt calm. That's where the saying, '_the calm before the storm' _comes in.

It had happened a month later. Buck and Jai were with their friends, when Steve's father had come walking through the snow.  
"Jai, Buck, I need to talk to you." He said. The brothers looked at each other with worry. Steve's father (Craig) looked deeply upset. When Craig had brought them aside, he had had said in a low voice that the brother's parents were dead. Evidence pointed that they'd been taken by a saber. Craig had been on his way to Buck's family's hollow, when he saw the saber dragging Buck and Jai's parents bodies away. Buck didn't know what to say. Neither did Jai.  
"Hey Buck, Jai, what's wrong?" asked Lucy when Buck and Jai went back to their friends. Buck explained what had happened. He was still in shock, so the tears didn't come yet. All of their friends gasped at the story. Anna gave Jai a hug. Lucy did the same for Buck. Buck held her as if she meant everything in the world. He didn't want to let her go. He felt torn. He'd never said goodbye to his parents. All he wanted was to stay like that with Lucy forever, surrounded by his friends. When Lucy let go, Buck looked at her. She looked just as sad as him.  
"Hey. I know what will make you feel better." She said.  
"Your hug already made me feel better already." He said, trying to smile, but failed.  
"Well, I know what can make you feel even better than that." She said back. She then picked up some snow and threw it at him. Bucks jaw dropped in surprise. When he gathered his thoughts though, he picked some snow up and threw it back. She squealed as the cold white stuff shattered on her fur.  
"Snow ball fight!" cried Trevor. He picked some up and threw it at Jessica, who returned the assault by kicking some in his face. The fight broke out, and soon they were all squealing and laughing. Buck threw some at Jai, who tackled him to the ground and shoved Bucks face into the snow on the ground. They were both laughing so much they had trouble standing up. Buck kicked Jai in the gut, then ran off to hide behind a boulder. Lucy was behind it as well, hiding from Anna.  
"You were right! This does make me feel better." He said to her.  
"Told ya!" she said back. Just then, Jessica and Trevor appeared around the boulder.  
"We'll do an alliance attack." Said Trevor. Buck nodded, smiling. Jai, Anna, Steve and Sasha were hiding behind the boulder opposite them. Buck, Lucy, Trevor and Jessica made a many snow balls as they cold. Clearly the opposition were doing the same, because none of them were firing shots. When Bucks team had made as many as they could, they raised the snow balls and popped their heads over the boulder. At the same time the other team had done it as well. Snow went back and forth across the two boulders. There was screams of joy and shock as each team got pelted. Jai's team ran out of snow balls first, so had to surrender.  
"We triumph!" Yelled Trevor.  
"Oh, great Lords. Please show mercy." Said Jai. Buck had lined up Jai, and the rest of his team mates along the front of the boulder.  
"ready." Said Buck, who raised his right arm. In his paw sat a huge snow ball. He was aiming for Jai's head. Lucy was going for Anna's, Jessica for Sasha's, and Trevor for Steve's head. "FIRE!" yelled Buck. His team threw the snow balls at the other team. Jai pretended to die, so flopped over onto the snow. Buck said in a deep God-like voice, "Pathetic mortal." All of his friends laughed, including Jai's corpse.  
"You guys look like small children playing around." Said a voice all of them recognized. Regal appeared with Jeremy and Zac, another one of his friends.  
"Just because you never have any fun." Shot Lucy.  
"I have plenty of fun thank you." Said Regal.  
"I don't think feeling yourself counts." Said Jai, with a thoughtful expression. His friends around him tried to hide their giggles.  
"Well I bet that saber had a lot of fun clamping his jaws around your parents." Regal said. He hadn't expected Jai to turn around and punch him in the face. Regal yelled out in pain, fell over and clasped his nose.  
"Hey Jai. You were right, it does make him look better." Steve said, laughing. Jai cracked his knuckles. If Regal said anything, he was ready to throw another punch. Jeremy and Zac started walking towards Jai, but they took one look at Steve (who was about twice the size of both of them combined) and hesitated.  
"Think you're so tough don't you Jai?" Regal said, standing up.  
"Well I have a reason to. I just punched you in the face dipshit." Jai said. Regal launched at him, but Jai sidestepped the attack and kicked Regal in the back. Regal face planted in the snow.  
"Jai, stop." Buck said. Jai looked at him, confused. "He's not worth it."  
"what is he worth then?" Jai asked, through clenched teeth.  
"Nothing. The jackass should just drop dead where he stands, but Jai, don't be the one responsible for his death or pain."  
"Why? Would it make me as bad as him or something?" said Jai, sounding a little annoyed.  
"No, but you don't want to be like him. It won't make you worse than him, or as bad, but just ignore him. He's a bastard and a son of devil. He doesn't know what it's like to have your parents ripped from you, so just leave him. One day karma will catch up with him." Buck said.  
"I hope karma's got something good planned." Jai growled. Buck giggled, and said,  
"Don't worry, I think karma has got it all covered." Jai smiled, and gave his little brother a pat on the back.  
"You always showed more mercy than me." he said.  
"I'm not exactly sure if that's a good thing." Lucy said, pointing towards Regal. Regal was mad.  
"I'll get you for this Jai." He growled.  
"That's what they all say." Said Steve. Jai, Buck and all their friends walked away, leaving Regal and his anger behind.  
That night was when Buck really cried. Craig and his wife offered Buck and Jai to stay with them, but Jai had refused. He may be only sixteen, but he could take care of his little brother and himself. Buck had crawled to his room, curled up on his bed, and had begun to cry, long and hard. He did it silently, jus incase Jai heard him, even though Buck was sure Jai would be doing the same as him. Crying. Buck regretted so many things while he could. He had never had the greatest relationship with his parents. He was never a mummy's boy, being really independent at a young age. He'd been getting his own food since he was seven years old. His mother had always offered him food, but he'd refused. Even Jai hadn't started finding his own food at that age. Only recently had Jai started breaking away from their parents. He'd always told their mother his problems, while Buck had been secretive, dealing with his problems on his own. Jai had always told their father about Regal's bullying when they were younger, and when their father had asked Buck if it was true, Buck had merely shrugged. That's why Jai had wanted to tell their parents about the recent threat of Regal. Buck had said they wouldn't be needed, so they hadn't said anything. Buck remembered the last thing he'd said to his mum was,  
"We'll be back before sunset." And had simply left. Jai had given her a kiss on the head at least, while Buck had never done that since he was six. Now he regretted it badly. The regret wouldn't last long though, or the grief. Buck would quickly get over it. He wasn't sure Jai would though. He'd always been closer to their parents. Buck just hoped that Jai didn't do something stupid.

Lucy felt so sorry for Buck. She herself had a great relationship with her parents, and knew that Buck had been independent since they were just small kits. He would be feeling so guilty right now, she knew it. She wanted to comfort him, but he wouldn't like that. He'd never been soft. That's why Lucy was surprised he hadn't let Jai hurt Regal today. Lucy had admired Buck for that. Frankly, she'd always admired him.

Days, weeks, and months passed. Buck was already back to his usual self, the death of his parents behind him. He was still annoying sabers, getting chased by wolves, and riding gazelles. But Jai came with him not as often. Jai would always take long walks alone in the afternoons. He didn't laugh as often, and he sometimes took a joke seriously, and would get mad. That wasn't like him at all. He'd also stopped singing as much, and when he did, it was always sad songs. Buck was still singing things like _'come on Eileen,' _and _'dreaming'. _These were upbeat songs that always made Buck feel energetic. He ignored Regal's taunts, and made his usual jokes. One day he came across his possum friend, Isaac.  
"Hey. What's up man?" Isaac asked, and slapped palms with Buck.  
"Not much."  
"Dude, I heard about the incident. You look fine though." Said Isaac.  
"Yeah, I got over it. Still miss 'em though."  
"Naturally. Hey I found these." Isaac held up too sticks, but they were hollowed out. Buck looked at Isaac, and Isaac looked right back. A smile crept across both of the boys lips. They both had the same crazy idea. They both found a whole bunch of tiny pebbles, and filled some pouches they made with the tiny rocks. Then they headed towards the path that Jai usually took his walk on in the afternoons. They climbed one of the trees. Isaac had been the one that had taught him to climb. They loaded the sticks with a few pebbles, then waited patiently. They didn't have to wait long, before Jai appeared through the branches. His head was hung, and he dragged his feet.  
"Target sited." Isaac whispered.  
"Target locked." Buck replied just as quietly.  
"Aim…"  
"Fire!" they both raised the pipes to their mouths and shot at Jai. Jai looked up in surprise as the pebbles hit him. Buck hit him straight in the forehead. Jai cried out in pain, then yelled up the tree,  
"Stop that!" Isaac had another shot.  
"It's just some fun Jai." Said Buck. He took a shot, and hit Jai in the arm.  
"Grow up!" Jai yelled angrily. Both the possum and weasel stopped shooting, then looked at each other in surprise. Jai ran off down the path.  
"Jeez. He overreacted. We used to do this all the time to him, and all he did was throw rocks back what at us and laugh." Isaac said.  
"Don't worry about it. He's changed a lot since Mum and Dad died." Buck said with a wave of his paw. "Come on. We'll go find a gazelle to ride." They jumped down from the tree and ran off towards a clearing where one of the gazelle's grazed.  
"Hey Buck. Sup Isaac." Said the male gazelle.  
"Not much aye, Fitz." Said Buck.  
"Feel like going for a run?" asked Isaac.  
"I'm up for it, yeah. Get on." Isaac and Buck climbed onto Fitz's back. As soon as they were on, he leaped into a gallop. He wasn't going his fastest, but it still made Buck yell in excitement.  
"Yaaaa-hooo!" he yelled. Snow sprayed up from under the gazelles hooves. Soon, they reached a path that went into a pine forest.  
"Go faster!" yelled Isaac to Fitz. The gazelle made his legs go faster. Everything was a blur. The white of the snow sped past them. They came out the other side of the forest, then turned around and headed back home. When they reached the clearing where they started, Fitz was panting slightly. This was unusual, but they had gone further and faster than usual.  
"Sorry if we pushed you hard mate." Said Buck, looking up at the gazelle with concern.  
"Nah. Probably did me some good."  
"As long as you're alright. We'll head home now. Thanks for the ride." Isaac said.  
"No, thank you. You know I love going for a run. It's even better when you guys are with me."  
"Seeya Fitz." Buck and Isaac said in unison.  
"Bye guys." Buck and Isaac soon reached Bucks hollow, and the sun had started to set.  
"You wanna stay the night?" asked Buck.  
"No, it's all good. I'll head home now. Seeya Buck."  
"Seeya." And with that, they parted ways. The next day, Buck was hanging with water rat friend, Alex. They were having a swim in a stream, when Lucy came crashing through the bushes. She looked panicky and upset.  
"Lucy!" Buck waved. "Over here." He hadn't seen the panic on her face.  
"Buck!" she yelled, running over to him. When she got closer, Buck started to see the concern on her features.  
"What's wrong?" Buck said, jumping out of the water and crawling onto land.  
"It's Jai. Regal tried to kiss Anna. She kicked him, so he slapped her. She ran off and told Jai. Jai went nuts, then went and found Regal, and now their having a fight." She said fast. Buck wasn't too alarmed by this. Jai could win this fight easily.  
"Jai can win that fight, so why are you so distressed. Let them fight it out." Lucy looked at him hopelessly, and said,  
"Their fighting near the cliff." Buck's eyes widened.  
"Come on!" he yelled, then grabbed Lucy's hand and started running off. Alex had heard the conversation and was following them. They started running towards where the cliff was. A million thoughts were going through his head. If either Jai or Regal made the wrong move, one or the other, or maybe even both, would be flying over the side of the cliff. Jai was Bucks best friend, not just his brother. His wingman of mayhem, his drake of destruction. They'd had so many memories, and if Jai got killed…Buck didn't want to think about it. If they got there fast enough, they might be able to save Jai and Regal from doing the stupidest thing in the world.

Jai punched Regal in the face, but Regal turned around and kicked Jai in the side. Then Regal leaped and pinned him to the ground. Jai rolled and landed on Regal. He put his face close to Regal's and spat,  
"If you ever touch her again, I'll hurt you so bad."  
"Don't worry. I'll let you call out her name when I throw you over that cliff." Regal replied.  
"Ha, says the one who's pinned to the ground!" Just when Jai said this, Regal yanked his foot free and kicked Jai in the gut. Jai recoiled, and Regal knocked him aside. Jai stood up, and Regal hit him with a large rock, right in the chest. Jai fell back, but thought quickly. He closed his eyes and laid on the ground. Regal laughed, and Jai could tell Regal was walking over to Jai's body. When Regal was right next to Jai, Jai kicked out with his leg and tripped Regal over. Regal fell to the ground with a thud. Jai jumped up and kicked Regal in the side. Regal gasped for air. Jai then realized that there fight was barely a meter from the edge. Maybe they should move somewhere else…Bang! Jai felt a huge weight knock him towards the cliff, and he fell to the ground. He was now barely a foot from the edge, and he could hear the waves crashing on the rock wall. He looked up, and managed to roll out of the way just in time, before Regal's foot came down where he'd been five seconds before. Jai got to his feet, and kicked out at Regal. Bingo! Hit him right in the stomach. Regal staggered for a moment…but only a moment. He was getting madder and madder with every hit he received from Jai. This gave him strength. While Regal was just going to launch at Jai and push him over the edge, something grabbed Regal from behind and threw him to the ground. Regal looked up to find Buck standing there, his bright blue eyes glaring at Regal.  
"This isn't your fight, Buckminster." Regal spat at him, standing up.  
"No, it isn't, but I have to stop you two from making a huge mistake."  
"Like what?" Regal asked.  
"Throwin' each other over a cliff." Buck said simply. "Would you like to be responsible for someone else's death? D'you want…" Regal hit Buck in the gut before Buck said another word.  
"Buck!" Jai said, then threw himself at Regal. The two boys tumbled and rolled, closer to the edge. When they were barely an inch away, Regal pinned Jai to the ground and said maliciously,  
"Now you die." He then stood up, grabbed Jai's arm and swung him towards the edge. Regal was knocked aside and Buck had launched forwards and grabbed Jai's arm before he fell to his death. Jai was hanging over the edge, and Buck had Jai's arms in a monkey grip. Buck smiled with relief down at his older brother, who smiled back. Then a look of alarm crossed his face.  
"Buck look out!" Warned Jai. It was too late. Regal had grabbed Bucks shoulders and ripped him back. The monkey grip failed, and Jai's hand slipped out of Buck's.

"JAI!" Buck screamed, and looked over the edge. He just saw a brown dot fall into the ocean, and get crashed up against the cliff wall. Buck stood up, with shock taking over him. Then the anger came. Buck whipped around to find Regal standing there. He looked just as shocked as Buck, only realizing now what he had just done. "You bastard! You killed my brother!" Buck yelled, then launched at Regal, pinning him to the ground. His anger gave him strength, and even with Regal fighting back as hard as he could, Buck pinned him down like an ant. Buck punched Regal right in the face. There was a crack, and blood came out of Regal's nose. It was clearly broken. "You killed him! I hate you!" Buck was about to take another hit at Regal, when some words echoed through his head. _Don't be responsible for someone else's pain or death. _His own words, and he was about to ignore them. He stood up, still glaring at Regal, then stormed towards the forest. Lucy was standing near the edge, some snow caught in her fur. Anna was behind her, and Alex standing next to them both.  
"Buck…" Lucy started, but Buck turned away. He walked away to the clan.  
"Buck! Buck what happened?" Steve asked, coming up to him, seeing the expression on Bucks face.  
"He's gone. Regal killed him, fell off a cliff. He's gone…" Buck said, quietly.  
"What do you mean? Who did Regal kill? Who's gone?" Steve asked.  
"Jai's dead, Regal and him had a fight. I caught him before he fell, but Regal pulled me back and Jai's hand slipped. He's gone. Regal killed him." Steve looked shocked, then angry.  
"Regal killed Jai?" He almost yelled. Some weasels around them looked their way. Buck nodded his head. Gasps and whispers spread through the crowd, some accusing Regal, some shocked at the death of Jai.  
"Yes. Regal killed Jai, only because he was jealous." Buck turned around to run away, but someone was standing in front of him.  
"I didn't mean it. I'm truly…" Regal started to say.  
"Save your breath!" Buck yelled in his face. "I could have saved him, but you stopped me! I hate you. I'm the last one left of my family, because of you!" Then Buck turned away from everyone and headed to the woods. He didn't stop, but kept running. Being extremely fit helped, and Buck just kept running. He ran until the sun went down, then picked a tree and climbed up it. There was an unoccupied hollow in the tree, so Buck crawled in, and fell asleep, with tears running down his face.

After Buck had stopped yelling at Regal he ran off into the woods.  
"Buck!" Lucy yelled, but Buck wasn't going to stop, and she knew it. She would have to track him and find him. She started running off after him. She eventually reached the edge of the woods. _Buck must have gone in there_ Lucy thought, because his footprints and scent went in that direction. Buck had taught her a little about tracking, so she knew the basics. Lucy walked into the woods, following every move Buck had made. Sometimes he'd just turned in a random direction. He mustn't have been thinking when he was running. Lucy then reached a tree hollow, and the sun had gone down about an hour ago. She hadn't been paying attention to how much time had passed. All she thought about was finding Buck. Lucy went to the tree with the hollow, it must have been unoccupied because the only scent near it was Buck's. Lucy climbed up the tree slowly. She then leaped into the hollow yelling "Gotcha!" There was no reaction. Lucy saw a ball of rusty brown fur lying on the bottom of the hollow, but yet it hadn't moved. Lucy found out why five seconds later.  
"I could smell your scent about ten minutes ago. You were upwind." Buck muttered into the wall of the hollow.  
"I tried." Lucy said, smiling at the typical attitude of Buck. She went and sat down behind him, with her back against his.  
"Why're ye here Lucy? You should be back with your friends."  
"I am with my friend. I'm just making sure he doesn't do anything stupid." Lucy replied, giving Buck a poke with her claw. He didn't move. Lucy leaned with her back against his, and put her elbows up in his sides. Buck was still lying down, so this was easy. "What are you going to do?" Lucy asked quietly. She turned her head to try and look at Bucks face, but he merely turned it away again. "Well?"  
"I'm gonna run away." He said shortly. "I can' live here anymore. Not with Regal around."


	2. chapter 2, Running from pain

Here's another chapter guys. Remember, I do not own ice age or any of its characters or settings. Also, I'm sorry if Buck accent gets too hard to read, or if it isn't enough. I just can't do it too much, or even I'll get confused. Please review!

* * *

"Now, I know ye might try an' stop me, but I don' think I can live around him, or around here." Buck said. Lucy looked at her friend sadly. He was so depressed. Maybe some independence and alone time would bring him to be happier. All Lucy knew was that Buck was right, he had to get away from all this sadness.

"Go. Go out on a really awesome adventure, and then you can come back and tell me all about it. Just like you usually do." She said.

"Lucy, I won' be comin' back for a long time."

"I know. I just wanted some reassurance."

"I'll leave in the mornin'. There's a large world ou' there, jus' waitin' for me to explore it."

"You go do that, and I'll wait."

"No Lucy. Have a life. Don't sit around and wait for me. Get a boyfriend, hang with your friends, but don't go waitin' for me. I'll come back when I need to, but that'll be a long time from now." He sounded like he was giving her orders, which he kind of was.

"Well, if that's what you think." Lucy said. She stood up, and was about to leave, when Buck grabbed her paw.

"Jus' one more thing, before I leave." He said, standing up. He then leaned in and kissed her, full on the mouth. Lucy felt like she could sing, but didn't pull away until he did. "Goodbye Lucy." And he turned away from her and laid down again.

"Good bye Buck." Lucy said, and crawled out of the hollow and into the snow.

He'd kissed her! He'd kissed her! Buck had tried not to leap in the air with joy. Then he'd said goodbye. That was one of the hardest good buys he'd ever said. He hadn't been able to say good bye to Jai. At least he got to smile at him before…well, yeah. Buck didn't know where he'd go, or why. Maybe he'd go find the saber that killed his parents. Maybe it was the same saber that he'd put in a trap a couple of months back. Then again, he'd annoyed a lot of sabers. Maybe Buck would head far to the east, wandering across the lands until he found some new adventure. He wanted something exciting, meet new animals, make new friends, and see new sights. He wanted to come back and tell everyone of his huge adventure. He wanted to come back and forget everything that had happened. He didn't want to seek revenge from Regal. There was no point in revenge. It was just a state of mind that some get into. Hurting Regal wouldn't bring Jai back. It wouldn't do anything, except make Buck feel guilty. Buck curled up more to keep out the cold. He would leave in the morning, and come back in time. Maybe days, weeks, months, maybe even a year or more. He just needed a break. Maybe they would think he'd be dead. That would be great, because then he'd return, and be the start of stories. He could be a legend in years to come. Buck the great adventurer! He came back from the dead, after travel, discovery, riding sabers, and fighting pirates, maybe he had crossed the entire land mass that was known to all animals. That sounded like his kind of adventure. Yeah! He would travel further than any weasel had ever gone! First, he needed sleep, then he would start travelling away from the sea. Buck closed his eyes, waiting for dreams of adventure to seep into his mind.

Lucy trudged back towards where the weasels had gathered to hear the news of Jai's death. It was starting to snow, as if the sky was letting the cold fall for Jai. Lucy had already made a plan about what to tell the others. She would say that she hadn't found Buck and that he had gone too far, too fast, for her to catch up with him. Jess and Sasha were the first to spot Lucy in the snow.

"Where is he?" Sasha asked, her eyes full of concern.

"I didn't find him. He was too fast. I hope he doesn't do something stupid." Lucy said. Some murmurs started up.

_"Maybe he's committing suicide."_

_"Poor lad. Probably feels like he's got no other choice."_

_"He was so spirited, we will miss him if he goes, too."_ Lucy heard them, with a satisfied feeling. Buck wouldn't want them knowing he was alive. He would run away, and then return, only to hear that everyone thought he was dead. Lucy tried not to smile. Jess saw this, and led Lucy away from the crowd, Sasha following behind. Lucy must have looked like she was crying, because she heard someone say, _  
_

_"I feel so sorry for her. She was very attached to Buck." _Lucy tried not to choke on her laughter.

"Alright girl, spill it. I can smell Buck on you very faintly, so I know you found him." Jess said accusingly, putting her paws on her hips and raising her eyebrows.

"Ok…" Lucy said, trying not to laugh. She had to compose herself first.

"Deep breaths." Sasha said mockingly. This just made Lucy giggle. "Act like you're crying, so we don't attract any attention."

"Ok." Lucy started again. "As you two probably figured, I did catch up with Buck. He's planning on running away, not on suicide."

"That explains the first bit, but how can I smell him on your face." Jess said again.

"He kissed me." Lucy said quickly.

"Omg! Are you serious!?" Sasha said. Jess didn't look happy though.

"What is it?" Lucy asked.

"He leads you on, knowing that he likes you and that you liked him. He doesn't go out with you because he was trying to protect you. He then kisses you, but is going to run away! I'll kill him when I see him next. That'll be the last I see of his family."

"Jess, he's the only one left in his family."

"Precisely." They all fell into quiet giggles.

"He'll come back, I just don't know when." Lucy said after they let the giggles leave.

"Knowing him, it'll be a long time from now." Jess said.

"He said that. He also told me not to wait for him, to get a boyfriend and have a life. I don't think he'll be coming back for a year or more."

"Good. I don't want to see his sorry ass around here for a long time!" Jess said.

"Jess! Don't be so mean!"

"He's the one being mean!" She hissed back. "How do you know he isn't going to die out there?"

"He won't. He never does." Lucy said matter-of-factly. Sasha looked hopeful, but Jess was still skeptical, and said.

"Well, he better come back alive, or I'll kill him."

Buck woke up more alive than he'd ever been. He stretched his muscles, ready for the new day. The freshly laid snow glistened white outside the hollow. Buck jumped into it, feeling the familiar cold. It was only up to his ankles, so walking wasn't hard. He would have to head further into the forest to get away from the sea. Buck turned into the gloomy place, where little of the suns light got through the leaves of the evergreen trees. Buck walked pleasurably through it. He hummed a little. Slowly though, he started to feel a sadness seeping into him, a loneliness in a way. He had never really been anywhere without Jai, or some other form of a friend. Tears started coming to his eyes as memories from his childhood came by. Once, when he was younger, he had been chased by wolves far from his home, and Jai had come and helped him. Another time, Jai had been caught in one of his own traps, and Buck had to get him out. So many memories were now haunting Buck. All he could do was let the tears flow, hoping that no other animal would see him. Buck wondered for hours, just heading to the East. When it was about midday, Buck realized how hungry he was. He heard a stream nearby. Scrambling towards the sound, he found it surrounded by other animals. They were all carnivores. Wolves, sabers, bears and a manner of carnivorous birds and some wolverines. They were all having some sort of gathering. They weren't fighting, but having one big conversation, in one big clearing near the stream. Buck hid in a nearby bush and listened to what they were saying.

"I recon the captains gone barmy. He thinks we'll find anything round 'ere. I recon we gotta head south, it's summer down there, and there'll be more food." Said an owl.

"I agree. We should be going where the food is." Agreed a wolf.

"Why did we abandon ship again? I hate it here on land." Commented a saber.

"Says a mammal that's meant to be afraid of water!" yelled a crow. A squabble started, and Buck watched and realized they were all pirates. He wondered what they were doing here. The owl and wolf were right, it was summer down south, and all the food would be down there. He also wondered why they had abandoned their ship, and where their captain was.

"I recon we should mutiny!" Yelled an eagle. All the talking squabbling stopped, and every pair of eyes turned to the eagle at this. "The captain has gone nuts, and right now is on a scouting mission, looking for things to steal from humans. He thinks there is humans here, but we haven't seen any signs of them! We should just get back to the ship, and head south." The Eagle said.

"Who will be captain?" asked a bear. The eagle turned to the bear for a second, then addressed the whole crowd.

"I personally think that Oakblood should be our captain." All eyes turned towards another crew member. Buck stretched his neck further to see what they were all gazing at. He spotted a large saber with dark brown fur and dark stripes. He was sitting near the water of the stream, and looked up to see everyone staring at him expectantly.

"What do you say Oakblood?" asked a wolf, sitting nearby. "Want to be captain?" There was a pause between the words. The big cat looked around and said.

"We'll have a vote. I think it should be between me, Slasher and Hookclaw." Said the saber. A female wolf and a male owl came out of the crowd and sat next to the saber. Buck presumed Slasher was the wolf, who had multiple scars over her shoulders and legs. Hookclaw therefore must have been the large owl, with long, almost serrated claws on his feet. The three competitors stood in a line. Buck was surprised at how civilized they all seemed. Buck had heard daring and terrible tales of Pirates and their crimes. Most just steeled, others murdered and hunted. Buck watched, waiting to see what would happen. The eagle who had suggested the saber be captain, stepped in between the crowd and the competitors.

"All in favor of Slasher." He said. About a third put their paws or claws in the air. Slasher tried to hide her surprise. She obviously didn't think she was that popular.

"All in favor of Hookclaw." Only a couple voted for him, and he looked very disappointed. "All in favor of Oakblood." The rest of the paws and such went up. Oakblood was the new captain. He didn't look overly excited, but certainly didn't look bored either. He was focused. As soon as he was elected, he started giving orders about how they were going to take the ship and reject the captain. A thought came to Buck. _What if I went with these guys? I'm sure they'll have heaps of adventures. _Buck then remembered that you can't leave a pirate ship, once you've joined, otherwise it is treachery. They kill you for that. Buck shook his head of the thought of joining pirates. He would wait until they left.  
It took the pirates hours to finally get up and leave. The stream was finally free. Buck leapt towards it, his stomach taking over his mind. He stopped right at the water's edge to search for fish. It wasn't long before one came swimming past. Buck scooped it up and smashed it against a rock, before it even knew it was out of the water. He ate it hungrily, not noticing that someone was watching him. When Buck had finished the fish, he sat back on the shore and gave a huge sigh of satisfaction. He couldn't fit another fish if he wanted to. He got up and stretched, and was about to leave, when a voice stopped him.

"Hey. Over here." Buck whipped around, looking for who had said it. "Oi, I'm over here." Buck spotted a waving paw, near a tree a little way away from the stream. He walked over to it cautiously, thinking the pirates might have left a trap. "Don't be scared. I just need some help." Buck saw what it was as he got nearer. It was an otter, but his leg was caught under a log.

"Wha' happened to you?" Buck asked, rushing over and tried to lift the log.

"The pirates caught me in the river and put me under here to eat later. They must have forgotten about me, thank goodness." said the otter. Buck stepped back from the log. It was too heavy for him to lift. He would have to lever it off.

"I'll be back in a minute. Don' move."

"I don't really have a choice." Said the otter.

"Oh, right." Buck said, than scrambled up the tree. He was looking for a branch that could be snapped off, but would still be strong…There! It was a little higher up. It was almost as thick as Bucks body, but was already broken off a little at the base. Buck climbed up to it, and snapped it off. He dropped it to the ground, making sure he didn't hit the otter. He then got down, and dragged the branch over to the log near the otter's leg.

"This may hurt. I'm also gonna need you t' try and push it off you at the same time."

"Alright." Buck shoved the branch under the log. The branch stuck out at an angle, so Buck could use his weight to bring the log up. He jumped up and grabbed the branch. He felt the log starting to give way. It wasn't a large log, but would still be hard to lift off the ground. They didn't need that much, just a little bit. The otter started pushing the log as well, using his arms and other free leg. Soon, the log had lifted about an inch.

"Try yank ya foot ou' now." Buck said. The otter started to pull as hard as he could. His foot dislodged so fast, that his whole body went flying backwards. The log dropped again, and the branch flung upwards. Buck was catapulted into the branches of the tree they were next to. He started falling again, and couldn't grab hold of anything fast enough, so came crashing down the branches. "_Ouch, oh, ahh, youch". _He hit the ground with a loud "_mph!" _He slowly stood up, leaned against the tree, and started shaking his head of dizziness and snow. When he had his balance back, he started to test if he could walk. One step, two, three. Yep, he was fine.

"Thanks for helping me out." Buck turned to the otter. He was standing up, but his leg was being held off the ground.

"No problems. Is your leg broken?" Buck asked, concerned.

"Nah, just sprained. I can still move it, and walk on it a little."

"D'you want me to help ya get home."

"Just to the stream, if it's no trouble. I'll swim home."

"OK." Buck put his arms around the otter's torso and let him lean against Bucks side.

"What's your name, if you don't mind me asking?" asked the otter.

"Buck. Yours?"

"Dwain. I haven't heard a name like yours except for in pirate stories." Said Dwain.

"My parents loved telling me those stories, so I guess that's where it came from. My brother's name was Jai."

"Was?"

"He died yesterday."

"Oh gosh, I'm sorry to hear that."

"I was sorry to see it." Buck said, putting on a smirk, to hide his pain. They were nearer to the streams edge now.

"Thanks for your help. If you ever need a favor, come here and I'll help you out." Dwain said, sliding into the water.

"Won't be needed. I imagine I won't be comin' by here any time soon."

"Running away from home?"  
"Yep."  
"Thought as much. Good luck then."

"You too. And stay out of pirates ways next time."

"Don't worry, I don't think I'll be confident in going near any of them for a long while." Dwain said, and swam downstream. Buck smiled as he watched the otter leave. That was one little adventure he wouldn't forget. Buck walked away from the stream, continuing his journey. It was evening now, and the sun was starting to set in the west. Buck picked a tree to climb up and rest in. There wasn't a hollow this time, but a small dent in the wood. It was enough for Buck. He curled up to sleep. He would have to find some food tomorrow, for he was hungry again, but was too tired right now to find any. Maybe he could find another stream and go fishing again. He would find out in the morning…  
Buck awoke to the sun on his face. It was still halfway under the horizon, but it was enough for Buck to wake up. He did his usual stretches, to get the sleep out of his body. Buck climbed down from the branches, and looked to the sky. Clouds of huge proportion and grey fluffiness were in the east. Snowstorm. Great. Buck gave a snort of annoyance, but kept moving on. He would travel through it whether it killed him or not. He didn't want to stop. He just had to keep moving. Buck headed straight into it.

"There's a snow storm coming." Oma said suddenly. Lucy looked up from the fire they had built in the burrow.

"What?"

"Snow storm. I can feel it in my bones. It's a big one, too."

"We better get the supplies stored then, and make sure everyone's in their burrows." Lucy said, moving off.

"Buck will go through it, not avoid it."

"What!?" Lucy said. Lucy didn't think that Oma knew about Buck running away. Over the past few days, everyone thought that the young weasel had committed suicide.

"Bucks got a stubbornness in his blood that will keep him moving east no matter what."

"Will he get hurt? Killed?" Lucy knew that sometimes Oma could future see, so didn't want to miss on this opportunity.

"He will be fine, but will stumble across the biggest adventure he has ever seen, or even heard of."

"He'll be happy about that."

"More than you can imagine." Oma said, then she snapped out of her state. "What are you standing around here for? Make sure everyone's inside!" the old woman ordered. Lucy made a salute.  
"Ma'am, yes, ma'am." Then went and followed her orders.

The wind battered against his fur, and the snow was thrown at him like knives. It stung him, and he couldn't see two feet in front of him. All sense of direction had been lost, and he even had trouble breathing. Icicles were sticking to his under-bite teeth, and his tail was stiff with cold. Why had he come into this snowstorm!? He really was stupid with grief. Buck continued on, holding his arm in front of his face, trying in vain to protect his head from the speeding bullets of ice and snow. He had to get to the other side, to safety. Buck pushed through, feeling his body tiring with every step. He hadn't seen a tree for a few hundred yards. Damn. Buck really wanted something to rest behind. At least a tree was something. Buck fell over heavily. He tried to get up, but failed. _No! You will not die! _Buck mustered more of his energy, and tried again. This time he made it to his feet. Something then horrifying happened. Buck heard a loud crack as he got to his feet. It got louder, and Buck felt small vibrations under where he was standing. The land ten gave way, and he went plummeting through the air. Something was strange about the fall. He felt warmer. He hadn't wet himself or anything, but his coat was warmer, and he was falling a lot longer than he expected. Buck looked around at where he was falling. He could see an entire world! There was trees, rivers, waterfalls, and animals. They weren't ordinary animals. Buck spotted one nearby. It was a dinosaur! It had a long neck, and was really huge. _Brontosaurus _Buck remembered the name. But…dinosaurs were meant to be extinct. Buck realized all of a sudden that he was still falling. He was falling towards a jungle, with trees and other plants. Buck put his paws out to grab onto something. When he came close enough, he reached out and tried to grab a vine. He succeeded, but wished he hadn't. The friction ripped the skin from his palms, and he was forced to let go. His momentum had been slowed down extremely, so he didn't land as heavily as he would have originally. He still land heavily though. He got up and rubbed the side he had landed on. His palms were bleeding and stung so badly it brought tears to Bucks eyes. Something stirred in the brush next to Buck. He pricked his ears and backed away from it. Out of it jumped a raptor like creature. It looked at Buck questioningly, then made a small squawk.  
"Get out of here ye buzzard!" Buck yelled, then kicked a rock at it. He hit the raptor square in the head. It squawked, shook its head, and then looked back at Buck. It then lifted its head, and gave a long, shrill screech. From the same bush it had come out of, came about five others, all hissing and screeching at Buck. "Crud." He said, and started running. What had he fallen into?  
One year later.  
His back was against the cliff side, no way out. He was perched on the razors edge of oblivion, staring into the eye of the great, white, beast. It gave a loud roar, then brought his talons down onto Buck. Buck screamed in agony, and his body flew sidewards at the power of the baryonix attack. He landed heavily, then reached up and felt blood coming out of where his eye had once been. Buck heard another roar, and he got up and started running away from the sound. Rain pelted against his coat, and lightning flashed around him. He couldn't run forever, for the giant lizard would catch up. He would have to climb a tree. Buck picked one out, then started his ascent. When he reached a small branch, he grabbed one of the leaves and tied it around his injury, hoping it would stop the blood. He continued climbing, and snapped off a small branch as a weapon. He reached the top of the tree, and held the branch threateningly, knowing it wouldn't make much difference if the beast decided to make a snack of the weasel. Dark cloud were swirling around, and the night made it even harder to see anything. Buck heard something behind him, so twisted his body to see. After barely five seconds, Buck felt something behind him again. He turned again, just in time to scream as huge white jaws closed around him.  
Before the dinosaur could make Buck slide down his throat, Buck grabbed onto his uvula (the gross, pink, fleshy thing that dangles at the back of the throat), and hung on. He started to sing, back and forth, back and forth and back and forth. He finally let go, and shot right out of the dinos mouth, crashing into a tooth on the way. The dinosaur roared in pain, and lumbered off into the jungle. Buck landed on the ground, and rolled a few feet. When he looked up, something struck the ground in front of him. It was a tooth, one that Buck had knocked out when he came flying out of the dinos mouth. A great trophy for a great victory. Sure, he'd lost his eye, but had got this! It would be extremely useful, and Buck would prize it. He would have to nickname that dino now. Oh, Buck knew. Rudy! He would forever be fighting Rudy, and he knew it. There wasn't anything bad about that. He just had to get used to having only one bloody eye!


	3. Chapter 3 New home

hey guys, here's chapter 3. by the way, i don't own ice age, including characters and settings. this ones a bit shorter, but i think the next one will be really long. Six years have passed since Buck first disappeared, so Buck, Lucy, Jess, Sasha etc. are all like 21, 22 years old. This chapter also shouldn't be read by anyone under ten years old AT LEAST! it has some sad parts in it that aren't really suitable for young kids. Sorry for the close writing but i couldn't fix it. :/

* * *

Five years later.

"Lucy!" Lucy turned to find Sasha in the entrance of the burrow. "Your boyfriend is asking for you."

"Why?"

"He's going hunting again." Lucy groaned.

"Tell him to leave me alone for today. Oma needs my help with a lot of sick patients. I need to work and he can't distract me." she said to Sasha irritably.

"Alright." Sasha left Lucy to continue her work.

"Lucy! Come here, I need your help." Oma called from another room in the tunnels.

"Coming." Lucy said, walking down the tunnel. She entered a chamber where a patient was sitting on a bed made of leaves and moss. The patient was a small girl kit, with tan brown fur and orange eyes. "She won't eat her medicine."

"What's the illness?" asked Lucy, still looking at the girl.

"Just a bad cold. Everyone's getting them."

"OK." Lucy knelt down next to the girl. "Do you know what will happen if you don't have your medicine?" the girl shook her head. "You'll turn into a toad. Yeah, true story. Did you hear about the boy who disappeared six years ago?" the girl nodded. "He got turned into a toad. I tried to warn him that he would be, but he didn't listen. He now just sits on the log down at the stream." The girl's eyes widened. She then nodded her head fast. Lucy gave her the medicine, and she swallowed it quickly. Lucy smiled at her work. "Good. Now you won't be turned into a toad." Lucy got up and walked out.

"Thanks Lucy." Oma said.

"Oma, it's my job to help you as a healer. I've got to help you whether I like it or not." Lucy said smugly.

"Still. That was a good story you made up. Are you still convinced that Buck really is dead?"

"Oma, it's been _Six years! _One year, I wouldn't be surprised. Two, not totally losing faith. Three, surprised but was still hoping. Six? Where else would he be Oma? He's dead, so just get over it." Lucy stormed off. Oma shook her head, then went back to her work. Suddenly, she got the worst feeling in her bones. Something bad was going to happen, and soon. But what? She wouldn't tell Lucy, in case the girl panicked. She was always making sure Oma was OK. Oma wasn't _that_ old…was she? The painful feeling came again and Oma stifled a groan. This was bad. Oma shuffled to a seat made of stone and sat down. Oma couldn't see visions, but always felt what was going to happen. Right now though, she didn't know what she was feeling. It was definitely something big, that would affect all the weasels, ferrets and some stoats that lived in the area. The occasional saber or wolf would get affected too. As quickly as it had come, the pain left Oma, and she took a big sigh of relief. She wondered if anyone would get hurt during this big 'thing' that was going to happen. She hoped there wouldn't.

Buck looked at his reflection in the water. His scars had healed well, but they were still scars, left there after Rudy took his eye. Buck ran his claws along the marks that went down the right side of his face. He washed his face in the water, and then put his patch back on. He retrieved his knife from the nearby tree, and started wandering in the direction of the Plates of Woe. He felt like escaping some raptors today. He threw his knife in the air and skillfully caught it again. It was made of the tooth he'd smashed out of Rudy. Buck smiled at the memory, then he started humming one of his favorite tunes. He couldn't sing anymore. He used to have a wonderful voice, but one day when he tried to sing, after his brother died, he didn't get so much as a low pitched whine. That had upset Buck deeply, but he had learned to get used to humming. Hopefully his humming would bring the raptors out faster. Suddenly Buck stopped, his left foot halfway in the air. He turned to his right extremely slowly, not trying to attract any attention. He could hear the raptors not too far from himself, to his right. Buck crouched onto all fours, and crawled to the base of a tree. By the sounds of it, they were having a squabble. Buck could hear them hissing and screeching at each other. Buck climbed up the tree, and peered down. There was about four of them, all snapping at each other, angry and irritated. Buck could see all their ribs, so they mustn't have fed in a long time. Buck smiled. They would be more desperate to catch him now. One of them he even recognized. It was the largest one, with a scar going down its neck. Buck had done that, about two years before. They had been fighting over some fish in the stream, when Buck just jumped at it and scratched its side. He'd been ravenous that day, due to the lack of food he'd been finding. Buck now gazed at the old enemy with a crooked, crazy smile on his face. Buck climbed down the tree silently, and crept to where the raptors were arguing. He then stepped out of his hiding place and strolled towards them. They all stopped to watch.

"Hey guys how ya doin'? Did you see the weather report? Mighty storm comin' in. Say Fred, I think you've lost some pounds mate." He said casually. The raptors looked at one another for a second, then back at Buck. One screeched, and they all raced towards Buck. He dodged the first one, and went running with the others on his tail. He gave a wild call, and swerved in and out of trees, dodged rocks and jaws. One got close to snapping at his back. Buck led them on for ages, getting them tired. Only when he felt his breath become harder, did Buck resort to a tricky plan. He kept running for about a minute, then, like a flash of brown lightning, dived into the bushes. The raptors all skidded and tripped. Buck only had a few minutes to execute his plan, so he got right to work. Grabbing vines, a large piece of bark and some leaves, Buck created a trap. The bark he had shaped to look slightly like himself. It would only work for long distance though. The vines he had strung across the ground, tying one end to a tree. He then tied his bark replica to some vines, and hung it from the branches of a tree, so that the bottom just touched the ground. While all this was happening, the raptors were scouting around about twenty meters away, noses to the dirt, trying to pick up Bucks scent. When he had finished, Buck ran to the vine that was strung across the ground, and grabbed the end that was not tied to a tree, then hid in some bushes. He gave a loud whistle in the direction of the raptors, and called, "Come and get it!" they all looked up, and saw the bark replica of Buck 'standing' twenty meters away. They all hissed and went running towards it. Buck tensed as they got closer to his trap. When they were just in front of the vine he was holding, he pulled in it, and all the raptor tripped face first into the ground. They all hit their heads pretty hard, so would be dazed for quite some time. Buck smiled and ran off away from the scene. It was getting late now, and he was tired. Buck picked a fig tree to stay in for the night. When he reached the branches, he filled his stomach with the sweet flesh of the figs. He laid back against one of the thick branches, and gazed up towards the ice sky. He laughed at how a strange herd and not so long ago come down into his world. They'd been a weird bunch, but Buck had made friends with the saber. Quite unusual, considering Buck used to annoy sabers beyond anyone's imagination. Buck now remembered destroying one of the only exits out of this world. He hadn't belonged up there. There wasn't enough adventure. He loved it down here. It was warmer, better food, and more of it. Buck missed the company, but he got over that pretty quickly. He just pretended to have a conversation with dinosaurs. Buck laughed again at how he'd told the herd that he was married to a pineapple. Buck didn't really marry it, but had pretended to dance with it. That had been a funny day. So many weird memories were down here. At least they weren't bad memories, like the ones above ground. Buck let out a sigh of contempt, then closed his eyes to go to sleep. Another grand adventure waited for him in the morning.  
Buck looked up into the eyes of the raptor. It had him pinned to the ground with its foot. Before the raptor plunges its claws into Bucks flesh, it froze. It looked up and around. Buck was confused, and slightly disappointed. He had a whole plan to trick this raptor with, and now he wouldn't get the chance, because the raptor lifted its foot and stood still. It looked around cautiously. Buck stood up slowly, and looked around as well, alarmed by the raptors sudden change in behavior. Buck got a shock when the raptor suddenly high tailed out of there.  
"Oh come on. I was just getting warmed up!" Buck called after it. Buck felt a shiver run up his spine, and Buck whipped around, expecting to find Rudy. He could feel the vibrations beneath his feet. After feeling them after a while, Buck realized the vibrations weren't rhythmic like Rudy's footsteps, or even momma dinos. It was a continuous rumble. Everything went silent, except for the rumbling. Bucks heart started beating faster, because he knew what this meant. Earthquake. Buck ran as fast as he could towards one of the rock tor areas. It would be safer there. But the tors were still miles away. Buck would never make it. So he decided to climb one of the strong trees close to him. Once he got onto a thick branch, he held on tight. The vibrations got worse, and then it was a full on earth tremor. Trees around him were falling down. Thin young ones that weren't as strong as the one Buck was in. Buck held fast to the branch he was on. He had no idea that above him, the earth was starting to crack.

Oma felt it long before it hit. Her bones ached worse than ever before. She told Lucy to make sure everyone was deep in their hollows, in the strongest chambers they have. An earthquake was coming. That's when the shaking started. The ground rumbled, and trees started to fall, rocks were crumbling and the ground cracked. The ground started to feel as if it was being lifted…or dropped. Oma was thrown back and knocked unconscious.

"Oma!" Lucy screamed, but she also was knocked unconscious. They had no clue that the ground where they were burrowed in, had just fallen more than one mile underground, into another world.

Buck saw the earth fall into the dino world. The area of it was huge. It had fallen through about five to the west. He had watched in wonder what happened. He hoped no animals were burrowed in the ground that just fell. The earthquake was over, and the ground stopped shaking. He still didn't climb out of the tree. Buck looked again towards where the land had fallen, and something clicked in his brain, he just didn't know what. The land had fallen somewhere he remembered. That's when it all came together. The land was in the direction he used to live! Buck prayed that his friends had moved somewhere else a long time ago. Buck knew that some animals would have died in that fall, but also knew that some would have lived as well. He had to get there. It would take a long time to get there, because a lot of damage would have been done, and he had to help other dinos to get it all back together. It might take him a week to get there, maybe more, depending on how many dinos needed help. Some might even be trapped. Buck would get to the weasels after, but he had to help his own world before he helped his past. Buck started heading in that direction, coming across dinos and helping them get free, or clearing debris for them to get back to their homes. He wouldn't get to the weasels for a long time.

Lucy woke up with a pounding head ache, and her body felt like it had been thrown across the earth. Suddenly she remembered something.  
"Oma!" she called, and ran to where the old she-weasel was lying. Lucy felt her pulse and sighed with relief. She was ok. But there burrow on the other hand…totally wrecked. Their medicines and furniture were everywhere, holes and cracks in the roof, there was a huge hole in the wall, letting in light…wait…light? That wall was meant to be meeting another ten miles of dirt. After putting Oma in a more comfortable sitting position, she went over to the gaping opening. When she stepped out, she gasped at the sight. The ground was _above them! _She was under it, and there was trees. Lucy noticed immediately the higher temperature. She also heard a stream not so far off, and crickets were chirping in the heat. The light down here wasn't as blinding, and there was no glare, due to the non-existence of snow. A creature flew above her, and Lucy's hart skipped a beat. A pterodactyl? But they were a dinosaur, and dinosaurs were extinct…  
"Lucy!" called a familiar voice.

"Jess! Where are you!?" Lucy turned in circles trying to find her friend.

"Over here! Sasha's unconscious." Lucy ran in the direction of the voice. All around her were giant mounds of earth, from the land that they had all once lived _on. _Now they all live beneath it. The above ground land must have split open, and all the weasels burrows must have fallen into this new world. Lucy kept running past them, and occasionally spotted weasels coming out of there hollows. Lucy raced around another mound, and found Jessica kneeling over their blond friend.

"She's OK, but unconscious." Jess said.

"So is Oma." Lucy said, kneeling beside Jess. "Help me bring Sasha to the hollow, that's where I left Oma."

"OK." Together, Jess and Lucy carried Sasha back to Oma's healing hollow.

"Sit her up near Oma." Lucy told Jess, who obeyed. Lucy then went around the hollow trying to find a special herb Oma and she used to keep. "Uh huh. Here it is." Lucy dislodged the plant from under a rock, and brought it over to the two unconscious she-weasels. She put it near their noses. After a small while, there was no affect. "Damn. The blackout is too heavy for them to be woken up with this."

"What does it do?" asked Jess.

"Usually the certain aroma that it has will wake someone up if they're asleep or in a light unconsciousness. They're clearly really dumb to the world right now."

"What world? Lucy, I think we're underground. Like, not just tunnel wise…"

"I know. There's trees and vegetation everywhere, and I swear I saw a pterodactyl fly past."

"But they're extinct."

"They're supposed to be anyway." Lucy suddenly gasped. "I wonder if he's OK."

"Who? Your boyfriend? Oh, he's fine." Jess said with a wave of her paw. "I saw him go and help his friends out from under all the dirt. Don't worry about him. Its others we need to help." Just as Jess finished her sentence, there was an ear-splitting wail from outside. Lucy and Jess looked at each other in alarm, then ran towards the sound. Lucy saw it first. An adult she-weasel was kneeling on the ground, her head in her hands, sobbing loudly. Other around her had their heads hung and faces grim. Before her, laid the body of a young weasel. He wouldn't have been ten years old. He was lying still, not moving, not…breathing. Lucy knew deep down that this would happen. Not just to this young weasel either. Later, there would be screams of anguish as someone else found a loved one not breathing. Some wouldn't be found at all, buried beneath the mounds of dirt. An already made grave. Lucy dipped her head in respect, then went back to her own hollow. When she came in, voices made er ears prick. She looked up and saw Sasha helping Oma stand. They were both conscious.

"Thank god you guys are alright." Jess said, giving Sasha a hug.

"We're fine, but what about the others?" Oma asked. Jess looked at her with grief.

"So far one young weasel hasn't survived." Lucy said. She sounded unemotional, but that was because she was trying to hide it.

"Also, there's a twist," Jess said, "You should take a look outside." Jess stepped back and let the elderly weasel through. Oma stepped outside. Lucy was expecting the old lady to basically have a heart attack, but all she did was look at the ice sky, and grunt. She then shook her head and grumbled,

"Typical." Sasha gasped at the sight, a lot like Lucy had.

"Yeah, plus, we think there's dinosaurs down here." Jess said. Sasha turned to her with a raised eyebrow.

"Right, and my names Nutcase." Said Sasha. Just then, another pterodactyl flew overhead, this time giving a screeching call. Sasha's jaw dropped as she watched it pass by.

"Well _Nutcase, _believe me now?" Jess said smugly. All of them started laughing, except for Oma.

"Stop messing around. Sasha, go back to my burrow and try and find as much of my healing equipment as you can. Jess, Lucy, go around and see who needs help. Make sure everyone's OK. I'm going to find the other elders, and try and decide what to do." Oma ordered. Knowing better than to do otherwise, the three girls went to do their allocated task. Lucy went around, looking for those in need. Some had broken bones, other sprains and some…would never wake up. But all of them, every single one, would never see their normal land again. Lucy even came across ferrets, stoats, and an otter name Dwain. There was an unconscious saber over some of the mounds. Lucy made sure it was a heavy unconsciousness before she moved away from it…very, very carefully. Lucy came across Trevor and Steve. Regal and his friends were also alive. Unfortunately for Steve, his parents hadn't survived, along with Trevor's older brother. Lucy got all her friends helping the others. Lucy just hoped that something big didn't happen to come across all the weasels.

Oma had found some of the elders around. Most were alive, miraculously. Although, not all of them had survived the fall. There was enough of the elders to have a meeting though. They all gathered and sat in a circle, a little way from the main part of the area where their burrows and homes had fallen to the underground world.

"So what do we do?" Said an old male, named Amos.

"It's simple. We gather all the living, and find a small valley or canyon for everyone to burrow in. we have to do it immediately." Replied another, named Calvin.

"I agree." Said Oma. "We need to get them to safety. A canyon would be best."

"I'll get some young ones to scout around and find one. Meanwhile, the rest of us will gather all those who are alive and try and get some food." Amos said. The elders departed and went to go to their duties. Oma gathered Lucy and her friends, while the other elders got all the other weasels, ferrets etc. Once they all gathered, Lucy was allocated to find food. She nodded and went off into the jungle, with her two friends close behind. Oma didn't worry over them. They could take care of themselves.

Lucy walked into the jungle, almost shaking. She didn't want to be afraid, but she didn't know what to find out here. Sasha was literally shivering with fear, but Jess just looked bored.  
"Come on. The sooner we find food, the sooner we get back to safety." Jess said, after Lucy slowed down from fright. They walked not very far, when they spotted something that made their jaws drop, and their mouths water. A mango tree. Mango trees were a rare delicacy, only found on the island far south from where their original home was. Jess climbed up into the tree, and dropped some of the mangoes down, while Sasha and Lucy caught them as they fell. After they got as many as they could carry, Lucy, Sasha and Jess went back to the clearing. All the mammals were excited to see the food. They all made sure that the young and elderly had their share first. Jess and Lucy went back for more, to feed the rest of the mammals. They would have to make several more trips to get everyone some food. There was at least 150 mammals to be fed. Some, such as Dwain the otter, originally wouldn't have eaten fruit, but considering the circumstances, he ate it without complaint. After Lucy and Jess' fifth trip, everyone had at least eaten something. Later, when the world was getting darker, the scout team came back, reporting a tiny canyon not too far off. They also told of many encounters with dinosaurs, including one dangerous run in with some nest raiders, but they were able to hide before they were found. Soon, the whole group were being moved to their new home.


	4. Chapter 4 long time,no see

Here's the next one. I don't own ice age, including characters and settings. This ones a lot longer than the last couple, but shorter than the first. hope you guys enjoy. Also, try and guess who Lucy's boyfriend is, even though you've probably already guessed from my summary of the story.

* * *

Buck was tired, slightly injured and his whole body hurt. He had a huge cut on his side, and it was bleeding badly. He'd done all he could for any dinosaurs he'd came across, but now his mission was to find the fallen earth. It had been a week since the earthquake, and life was going back to normal. Any dinos that had lost their homes were finding new ones. Buck was hoping like hell that no mammals had fallen beneath the earth. He especially didn't want any of his old friends to have fallen down. But in the back of Bucks mind, he knew that at least one of them had fallen down. He had to get to them now. With every step he took, his body got weaker, and he started feeling more fatigued than he ever had before. He'd had no sleep, little food, less water, and had been on his feet the whole time, with only the occasional break. Now he was feeling the effects of that. He was so close now to his goal. He was barely ten feet away from where the earth had fallen. When he looked up, there was a hole in the ice sky roof. It was small, because of the distance, but it was visible. When he finally reached the clearing, his heart fell. He could smell signs of weasels. It was stale, old, and washed away slightly, but there was enough for Buck to conclude that there had been weasels. Alive and dead. He searched around, but found none, except for the occasional carcass that some scavenger raptors had made a feast of. He then stumbled along an unconscious saber. He stepped around it carefully, but it wasn't enough. It shifted in its sleep, and Buck froze. It was waking up, he could tell. It snapped its eyes open, and lifted its head groggily. It would be malnourished. It didn't notice Buck until it stood. Up. It then looked around, taking in the scene. Its eyes grew wider and wider as it realized it wasn't back home anymore. It jumped at Buck, but didn't even try to hurt him.

"What's going on!?" he demanded.

"You've fallen over a mile underground and amazingly survived. Now, don' freak out, but there's dinosaurs down here, an' if you ain' believe, run a hundred meters in that direction and you'll be proven wrong." Buck said. The saber looked as if it might have fainted, but he stubbornly kept a hold on being awake. He clearly wasn't interested in eating Buck.

"OK, so how do we get out?" The saber asked.

"Ye can, but it's a long journey. There's only one way left ou' for a thousand miles in any direction, and even then, it's hard to ge' to." Buck said. "I'll help ya, on one condition," Buck said, making sure he had the sabers full attention, "You don' try t' kill me, or any other mammal we come across. I'll show ye a stream ye can catch fish from, but you don' touch anything that's got fur." Buck said. The saber nodded, then asked,

"Do you know this place?"

"I live down 'ere, and it's great. I'll help you get ou' of 'ere though."

"Thanks. I'm starving though. Don't worry, I'm not interested in having you for breakfast. I've had weasel before, and it doesn't taste as good as rabbit."

"You've had weasel?" Buck asked, a little scared.

"Yeah, it was years ago. Got two of them when I was hungry, but never again. One, they were defending themselves unlike anything I'd ever taken on, and two, they didn't taste that good, nor did they feed me very much." Buck shook his head of a thought that popped into his mind, "So don't even get scared, I'm not going to hurt you or any of your friends. Wait, I can't see any." The saber said, looking around. Buck did as well.  
"It's clear they moved on. If there's any tha' I know, none of them are dumb. A couple are annoying, but not dumb." Buck said. He felt tired just thinking about trying to find them. "We'll get food first, then some sleep. You'll be in need of natural sleep, and I haven't rested for a whole week." Buck said, then moved off towards the stream not too far off. The saber followed. "By the way, what's your name?" Buck asked the saber.

"Levi. What's yours?"

"Buck." The saber laughed. "What's wrong with my name!?"

"There's nothing wrong with it, it just suits you so well. Did you really lose your eye, or is that patch just to look like a pirate?" the saber asked with a smirk on his face.

"I did really lose my eye. T' Rudy, a huge albino baryonix who's my frenemy."

"Frenemy?"

"Friend, enemy. He hates me, and wants t' kill me, but he keeps me company."

"Will he try to find us?"

"Rudy? Are you joking? He knows all, sees all, and eats all." Buck said the last bit with his knife pointed threateningly towards the saber. He then stepped back with a smirk and said, "yeah, he'll try find us alrigh'." Levi looked a little scared at Bucks little crazy moment, but didn't react. They kept walking, and eventually reached the stream. At this point, Buck was having trouble walking. His side had stopped bleeding, but he had lost a lot of blood due to his constant movement.

"I can give you a ride if you want." Levi said, noticing Bucks weakness.

"No, it's alrigh'. I'll live. It's funny, I thought all sabers were merciless assassins." Buck said.

"My father was very abusive, and my mother was extremely nice, so I went with my mother's kindness. She only hunted for food, and taught me to not be angry unless I had a really good reason for it." Levi said.

"So you don' hunt for, let's say, vengeance?"

"Nope, only food." Buck decided that even if this was the saber that had killed his parents, he only did it for food, which isn't something to hate someone for. Everyone's got to eat sometime. Levi dived into the water of the stream happily. For the rest of the day, Buck and Levi caught fish and ate happily. Levi came across his first dinosaur, a triceratops. It was drinking from the stream, then lumbered off into the jungle. When evening came, Buck picked a tree with thick branches, so that Levi could have enough room. Levi looked at Buck like he was crazy. Levi may have been a cat, but was not used to climbing (let alone sleeping in) trees.

"It's the safest. Unless you feel like sharin' the same bed as some hungry raptors." Buck said. Levi sighed, and climbed the tree without a word. It was a huge mango tree. Buck thought it had to be more than five hundred years old. The branches were as thick as a brontosaurus' leg. Levi could fit on one easy. As the night closed in, Levi felt happy Buck was with him. The weasel may be small, but he had an air of power about him. A strength that wasn't physical. It definitely wasn't mental either. It just seemed that Buck could take care of himself, against all odds. Levi didn't have trouble falling asleep. Buck had already drifted into sleep, due to his exhaustion. They would find the weasels tomorrow. But right now, they both needed sleep…

Lucy woke up in the unfamiliar burrow. By the way that little light came through her window, it was still early morning. It had been about a week since the earthquake, and the weasels had made a new life. They had found a miniature canyon, barely ten meters tall on the sides. There was a thick strip of flat land in the middle of it, about five meters across, and it stretched for what the weasels predicted were a mile. Inside were plants, rocks, and the occasional tree. There was one way to get in to the canyon, and that was to climb down one of the less steep sides. This made it really hard for any large, or even medium sized dinos to get in. All the weasels had then picked a small area to dig and make a burrow with their families or friends. Oma, Jess, Sasha and Lucy were all living in the same one. It was known as the healing burrow, because now the three friends helped Oma do her healing work. Most of the weasels had some form of injury, so Oma was very busy, and needed as much help as possible. When she wasn't needed, Lucy would sneak off, climb out the canyon and wander around the area. Every day she got further and further. She had even come across some healing herbs and plants that Lucy never thought she'd see, because the plants were native to a completely different area of the continent. Oma had taught her about the plants, and how to use them. Lucy was excited to see if any more plants in this world would have healing properties. All the elders were now the 'government' of the weasel village. Usually weasels were solitary, but now they had a new way of life. The elders had decided to stay down in this dino world because food was more abundant, the temperature was warmer, and the soil easier to dig in. Dwain the otter had found a stream only a thirty meters from the canyon. He now lived there, and the weasels would collect water from there in bark containers. All the weasels had deemed this place paradise. None of them wanted to return to their old world. None of them knew that this world was already inhabited by one of their kind. They also had little idea of how he'd react. Lucy most of all, because she had completely given up hope on Buck being alive. Lucy got off of her new bed. It was a pile of soft leaves sewed together with some reed-string. It was suspended on a large pile of the softest dirt Lucy had ever come across. Lucy had made sure she'd burrowed her chamber near the entrance, so that she could dig in a window, to let in light. She personally had never liked the dark tunnels, and preferred the fresh air to the heavy-aired dirt tunnels. Lucy took in a deep breath of the fresh air before moving out of her chamber. She walked out into the open and saw again that it was really early morning. She could sneak away and go for a walk, maybe and see Dwain. He was always up early, so maybe she could pay him a visit. Lucy walked towards the path that led to the outer parts of the village. She would collect some food on the way back, but right now, she would go on a walk and see what she could find. Lucy walked slowly, taking in the scenes. She hid in the bushes as a pterodactyl flew overhead, and she gave a triceratops a pat as she passed it. The dinosaurs that she had so far come across weren't aggressive. Mostly herbivores, and there were even little raptors that didn't attack. They were about three feet high, and purely ate bugs. Some weasels were thinking about catching and using them to ride. That would be useful, but Lucy didn't like the idea of trying to tame them. It would probably have to be done in a violent way. Lucy walked past the triceratops, and heard the familiar rush of the stream. She didn't walk any faster, so that she could take in everything. She saw some bright pink flowers, with a purple center, and recognized they were what Oma said were Fuchsia. It hung down from the side of a large tree. They could be used to rub into your fur and they stopped the stinging of a bug bite. Lucy would take one when she was coming back. Lucy reached the stream and looked around. She soon spotted a dark shape swimming in it. A head popped out of the water, and smiled up at her.

"Hey Lucy. You're up early this morning." Dwain said, getting out of the water.

"Yeah. I think it's the unfamiliar burrow. I sleep heavily, but wake up early."

"I sleep much better in my new burrow. I had to dig it myself. Normally my species just steal abandoned ones from muskrats. It was weird having to dig it myself, but I could design it how I liked." Dwain said.

"Yeah, mine has a window."

"Oooh, fancy." They both laughed.

"I felt like coming for a walk. This world is so weird."

"Well I thought the old world was pretty weird as well. I love it down here though. The waters warmer, and there's a lot more fish. Speaking of fish, I'm about to get some breakfast. Do you want to join me?" Dwain asked.

"Don't sound so formal. Thanks for the invite, but I'll just head back. I'll see you later probably."

"Yeah. Be careful, don't run into carnivorous raptors."

"I'll be fine." Lucy said with an exasperated sigh. Dwain waved goodbye, then leaped back into the water. Lucy walked back in the direction of her new home. The underground world was slightly lighter, so dawn mustn't have been far off. Lucy went back to the patch of fuchsia, picked a couple off, and kept going. She also came across a fig tree, and picked a couple off for breakfast. When she reached the canyon, she was starving and quickly put the fuchsia in the storeroom, put the figs on the stone table, and ate one greedily. She then went to one of the extra chambers where they kept their patients who needed to stay overnight. There was a teenage boy, with steel grey fur lying on the leaf bed. He was fidgeting a lot, so was clearly in pain. Lucy walked back to the storeroom and picked some herbs that would help the pain, and went back to his room. She shook the boy and he woke up groaning, and Lucy got him to sit up.

"Are you in pain?" Lucy asked, making sure. The boy nodded, and said,

"It's my leg. Oma said it's broken, and that she would put a splint on it today."

"Here. Eat this, it'll lessen the pain." The boy did as he was told. After he finished, he said,

"I don't feel its affect. My leg still hurts just as much."

"It'll take about an hour." The boy made a loud groan and flopped back onto the bed.

"But it hurts so badly!" Lucy smirked, poked the boy with her finger and said,

"Only for another hour. Just don't think about it, and it will hurt less."

"What else am I meant to think about?" the boy asked.

"Well, talk to me. What's your name?"

"Adrian. I think you know my uncle, Jeremy."

"I do."

"He says that this world has got dinosaurs. Is that true?" asked Adrian, his eyes gleaming with curiosity.

"Yep. I myself patted a triceratops this morning while out seeing a friend."

"Whoa. Can I come with you next time?"

"With that banged up leg? Not until it's healed. After that, Jeremy will probably take you out and see them anyway. He and Regal are thinking about taming some of the bug eating raptors. They're small, and would be easy to ride. You might be able to ride one someday." Lucy said.

"I hope so. That would be really fun. Hey, are we all going to stay down here forever?"

"I think so. But it's better."

"Yeah, I like the weather. And the dinos! I can't forget about them."

"They are magnificent. Well, I have to go, but you keep on imagining yourself on top of one of those raptors, and the pain will subside soon."

"Ok. Thanks, by the way."

"No problem. Your fun to talk to." Lucy said. She flicked his nose and winked at him, then left. She went down to another chamber, where Jess slept. She walked in and found that her friend was not there. Lucy wasn't bothered by the disappearance, but went to Sasha's chamber. The blonde was there, combing her fur with a bristle leaf.

"Morning Lucy. You look like you've been awake for ages."

"I have. I went for a walk to the stream and saw Dwain. Then I came back and gave some herbs to that boy Adrian. Hey, do you know where Jess is?"

"No, she stayed out last night but I thought she'd come back after I went to bed."

"She's not in her room, and I'm always the one that wakes her up." Lucy said. Now she started to worry. Where could Jess be? "We should probably look for her. You start looking through the burrow and all the chambers. I'll go out and check around." They both went to the main room near the entrance. Just when they were about to split, they heard shuffling outside the bark door of the burrow. They stood still to see who it was. Jess tiptoed in, trying to be unnoticed. She didn't see her friends, until Lucy put her paws on her hips and went,

"Eh-hem." Jess turned to see her friend with accusation written on their faces.

"Where were you? I was starting to worry." Lucy said.

"I just went out for a walk."

"So why were you trying to sneak in?" Sasha asked, folding her arms.

"Well, I didn't want to wake you guys."

"You know well enough that we're always up before you." Lucy said, tapping her foot.

"You weren't today." Jess said.

"So why were you out so ate last night? Actually, I'm not even convinced you came back at all. I didn't stay up late enough to find out." Sasha said again.

"I just stayed out late." Jess said. She looked like she was getting a little nervous, which was unusual. If she was being accused of something not true, usually she got mad and gave evidence it wasn't her. Now, she was nervous and fidgety. _Something must be up_, thought Lucy.

"Where and with whom?" Asked Lucy, trying to not sound accusing.

"Just with some friends." She tried to defend.

"Wrong answer. Jess, we're your friends." Sasha said, sounding a little hurt. Lucy then realized something, and she almost choked on laughter. No, it couldn't be. She never has before…

"Jess. Who's the lucky guy?" Lucy asked smiling. Sasha slapped her forehead.

"Of course! Why didn't I see it before?" she said, laughing.

"Guys, wait. What are you saying?" Jess tried to defend, but her voice was shaking and she looked even more nervous than before.

"You know exactly what we're talking about." Lucy said loudly, laughing hard. "You've got a boyfriend!" Jess looked defeated.

"Fine. Maybe there is a guy. But that's not your business." Jess shot, then tried to storm off, but Sasha blocked her exit.

"We're your best friends. We won't tease you, it's just…you've never been interested in anyone until now. Come on, tell us." Sasha said. She was always making sure she knew what was happening with Lucy and Jess, so that she could help them in hard times. Jess was the one who instinctively knew something was wrong, but didn't exactly knew what it meant unless it was beating someone up. Right now though, Jess was the one who was being cornered to say her feelings.

"Why should I?" Jess asked, starting to get angry.

"Because we tell each other everything. Also, when Lucy finally got over Buck and got a boyfriend, she told us straight away." Sasha said, indicating to Lucy.

"All right. If you have to know, it's Trevor." Sasha and Lucy squealed.

"Trevor as in our friend?"

"No it the Trevor that lives on the moon!" Jess said sarcastically. "He just treats me in a way that is unlike anyone else. It gives me flowers, but in such a casual way, it's almost unromantic. Just how I like it. We're friends, but just taking a further step." She said. She was probably blushing, but her dark brown fur stopped you from seeing.

"Taking an extra step isn't being friends, Jess." Lucy said. For the rest of the morning, the girls talked about Jess' new boyfriend, who they all knew pretty well anyway. Oma came in and (as per usual) ruined their fun by giving them jobs.

Buck had woken up just before dawn. Levi was just waking up as well. They both got out of the tree, and stretched the sleep out of their bodies.

"I don't feel particularly hungry, do you?" Asked Levi. Buck shook his head. He felt a lot better than he did yesterday, but he was worried about the cut on his side. It hurt extremely, but he didn't tell Levi this.

"We better keep movin' then. I have a fain' idea about where the weasels would have gone if they survived." Buck said. He was thinking about the small canyon not too far away. It was small, but the sides were steep enough to keep out anything bigger than a saber. When it was the wet season, it flooded at the south end, but it never touched the north. If they were there, Buck would have to warn them about that. Buck and Levi continued in the direction of the canyon. When it was about midday, they came across a stream that Buck recognized.

"We're nearly there. Barely fifty meters and we'll reach it." Buck said. He heard his stomach rumble, and realized he needed a bit of food. Levi said he was hungry too. Without another word, they both waded into the water and waited for fish to come by. Instead of fish though, a sleek black mammal popped its head out of the water, and smiled at Buck. He then spotted the saber and backed off a little.

"Don't worry. I don't have a taste for otter as much as I don't for weasel." Levi said comfortingly. The otter turned to Buck and said,

"I don't recognize you from the weasels that fell down here. You're bigger, and have a leaf over your eye." Said the otter.

"Yeah, I actually have lived down 'ere for six year. Fell down through the ice in a snowstorm." Buck replied. "This is Levi, the vegetarian saber."

"Correction. I'm strictly a fish eating saber, thanks to this bloke." Levi said, indicating to Buck. He then said to the otter. "We're looking for a large amount of weasels. Do you know where they are?"

"They are living in the canyon about thirty meters that way." The otter pointed past the other side of the stream. Buck nodded at this and said,

"Thought so. It'd be the safest place for 'em."

"You didn't say what your name was." Said the otter.

"Buck, short for Buckminster, long for Buh." The otter's eyes widened.

"Are you the same Buck that helped me out from under a log six years ago?"

"Dunno. What's your name?"

"Dwain."

"Yep, I think so." Buck said.

"That's great! Wait, you've been under here all this time?" Dwain said.

"Yeah. I think i' was a strike of luck." Buck said smiling.

"Your friends told me the story of you running away. Anyone else thought you were dead. Well, actually, now _everyone_ thinks you're dead. Even Lucy and Trevor."

"I ain' surprised. I said I'd be back, but I go' caugh' underground. I planned on travellin' for only about two years, but tha' got scrapped." Buck said, chuckling. Now he'll have some fun.

"You probably look different too. There's only a couple of weasels that could match you for size." Dwain said. "You've also got shorter hair, along with the fact that you've only got one eye, I presume." Dwain said.

"Yeah, he's only got one eye. He's still got good 3-d perception though." Levi said. He then turned to Buck and said, "What are you going to do? The weasels are safe and living down here, so are you going to help me get back above ground?" Buck thought about it. He wanted to surprise the others, but he needed time to hatch the perfect idea to scare the crap out of them.

"Sure. I 'ave a lot to think about. We'll eat first, then keep movin'." Buck said. Dwain helped them catch fish in the stream, and then Buck was about to announce to him they were leaving, when he remembered to tell Dwain something.

"Don't tell anyone you saw us, OK? I wannit t' be a surprise."

"As long as I'm there to see the look on their faces." Dwain said. Buck laughed, then said,

"Deal." Buck and Levi moved off with full stomachs. They traveled at a decent pace, and Buck thought if they kept going like that, they'd reach the exit within the week. The next day, they came across some brontosaurs.

"Hey, d'you wanna 'ave some fun?" Buck asked, a certain smile crossing his lips.

"If it involves those things, no thanks." Levi said, looking nervously up at the brontosaur.

"Alrigh'. I'll go 'ave fun while you sit here and watch me, bored." Buck expressed the 'bored' part, so Levi got the picture. The brown saber sighed, and said to himself,

"I'm going to regret this badly. Alright," he said, looking at Buck, "let's have fun."

"This is a lot more fun than I expected!" Levi yelled.

"Whoo-hoo!" Buck cried, swinging his knife above his head. "Gee-ha!" They were both on top of one of the heads of a brontosaurus. The huge creatures were travelling towards where Buck wanted to go. They may have moved slowly, but their steps were huge, carrying Levi and Buck across the land a lot faster than they would have been travelling themselves. Levi was holding on for dear life on the top of the head, while Buck was right up between the dinosaur's eyes. They would reach the exit in only a few days if they kept going at this pace. Buck couldn't control these as well as controlling a pterodactyl, so if it decided to change direction, Buck couldn't do much about it. Right now, it was happy to head towards where Buck wanted it. For the rest of the day Buck leisurely laid back in between the dinos eyes, while Levi stretched out on the head. It was great, just sitting there not having to move. When it was getting late, the brontos started to slow down. They were going to stop and eat for the night. Buck said to Levi that they would have to slide off.

"Slide?" Levi asked. Buck didn't answer, but pushed Levi off the head and onto the back. Levi yelled in fright as he slid down the neck, then down the back and tail. The tail hadn't raised, luckily for him, so he only had to fall a foot or sp to hit the ground. Buck gave a whoop, then followed his friend and landed neatly on the ground, a crazy smile on his face. He climbed a tree to get a look around.

"Well, what do you see?" Levi yelled from the ground. Buck appeared out of the branches, then swung down on a vine.

"Good news. We're 'alfway there. The brontos look like they'll swing west from now, so we'll continue on foot. We'll ge' some sleep first." He said, picking another large tree. Levi climbed it without another thought, and Buck swung up to the topmost branches, wanting to get a good view of his world before he went to sleep. He gazed around, looking far, even though there was the tiniest bit of light to see with. He could see the shadow of devil mountain miles behind them, and could hear the sounds of certain dinosaurs in the air. His world, and he had permanent visitors. Buck expected for himself to be mad, annoyed and anxious about having more mammals living in his world, but he didn't. He felt, happy. This confused him. He'd been happy being alone, had even married for three months, then she'd left him because he wasn't caring for himself. Buck was glad she'd left him. She was the ugliest pineapple. Buck had Rudy though, and all the other dinos. So how was he happy with some other mammals were here? Buck would probably never know. Buck just hoped that Regal wasn't with them. If he was, Bucks past would come back to haunt him, no question. The cruel bastard was probably going to try and torture dinos. Buck frowned at the thought, and climbed back down to the branch he would sleep on. Levi wasn't asleep yet, and looked up when Buck appeared in the branches.

"What are you going to do when I go?" Levi asked.

"Well, I'm gonna head back to the weasel village, go t' the healers burrow, an' hide there. Lucy probably works there with Oma, along with Jess and Sasha. I'll tell Oma I'm alive an' such, an' she won' tell the others. Then, when I feel like it, I'll just pop up and then they'll all know I'm alive." Buck said, laying back against his branch.

"Will you stay there?"

"Heck no. I've got better things t' do than hang 'round there. I'll just visit once in a while. Actually, I could probably collect herbs for the healers, and that means I get the best o' both worlds. Get my freedom and an excuse t' go back t' the village. I jus' hope Regal ain' there. Hopefully he either died or didn't fall down at all." Buck said.

"Who's Regal?"

"Hm? Oh, he's just a guy that killed my brother. I don't like him much." Buck said, closing his eye. Levi didn't say anything. After a while, Buck got annoyed.

"Why are ya so quiet? If you feel sorry for me, I'll kick yer ass." Buck said fiercely, not opening his eye.

"Is that the reason you ran away from home? Because your brother got killed?"

"Yep. I saw it happen. Scarred me for life, so I ran away. It was only two or three days after i' happened, when a big snowstorm blew by. My stubbornness sen' me straigh' into it. I walked onto a field of ice, and fel' it crack beneath me. before I knew i', I was fallin' into this world." Buck said.

"What about your parents? Didn't you stay with them?" Levi asked quietly.

"Both of 'em were dead. Got taken by a saber, both a' the same time. I have a feelin' you did it actually." Buck said the last bit so casually, that Levi didn't know what to say. Finally he stammered out,

"Well…I…I'm really sorry, if it was me."

"No sweat. I go' over it pretty quick. I was pretty independent by the time I was seven, so never stuck around. Lived in the same house, but didn't share meals or even talk to my parents very often. I could go weeks without sayin' anythin'. What about you? How was your childhood?" Buck asked opening his eye and wanting to change subject.

"Well, as I said, abusive father, peaceful mother. From the time I was born I was a runt. My father hated it, so constantly abused me when my mum wasn't around. One day she caught him hit me, and killed him flat." He said this last bit casually, just like Buck when he mentioned his parents getting killed. "My mother took me away and we went and lived on our own. She felt bad about killing someone, but would do anything to protect me. She taught me everything she knew, and I learned to be a great hunter and fighter. I left my mother when I was large enough. I was the leader of a pack for years, but they ganged upon me because I was too soft. I didn't kill for fun, so they thought I was useless. I got kicked out, and stuck out on my own ever since. I was out hunting when I fell down here and met you." Levi said.

"I thought you said you were a runt?" Buck asked. "How did you get to being the leader of a pack?"

"My mother fed me well, and I worked on my hunting and exercised all the time. The good food and good treatment got me the average size of a saber, and my brains got me leader of the pack. I'm not the only one though. Dwain was right, you are large for a weasel as well."  
"I recon it's the same as you. The good food down here, along with constantly bein' on the run, must've gotten me t' be bigger than the average." Buck said.  
"You've got a bigger brain to. I can't imagine any other weasel sticking out on their own down here. Ferrets, maybe, but weasels are aggressive only when they need to be." Levi said. He then gave a loud yawn. "We better get to sleep. See you in the morning Buck."

"Night." Buck said. They both fell into a peaceful sleep.

The next morning Buck and Levi started travelling before dawn to cross as much land as they could. They would travel as long and hard as they could, because as Buck had predicted, the brontosaur had headed off in a different direction. They talked as they went, about their everyday lives.

"What are _you _gonna do when ya ge' back above ground?" Buck asked.

"Well I'll…actually, I don't know." Levi said, stopping in his tracks.

"Don't worry about i'. You'll get up there, steal a girl's heart and run off happy as a robin in spring." Buck said.

"I dunno. Not many females would take a loner."

"That's why yer gonna be the first to prove that theory wrong." Buck said.

"You really can make a guy feel better, you know that right?" Levi said, smiling down at Buck.  
"It's a gift. Come on. There's a pond ahead with fish twice the size of me." Buck said, running off. Levi followed without a word.

"Babe, I need to get back to work." Lucy said to her boyfriend, as he tried to kiss her again.

"Just one more please." He said, giving her puppy eyes. Lucy couldn't help but smile.

"Fine. One more, then get out or I call Jess." Lucy threatened. He smiled at her and leaned in for the kiss. They met lips, but only for a moment, before Lucy pulled back and said, "Now it's time for you to go."

"Awwwww…"

"Out!" She said, trying to be harsh.

"I'm going, I'm going. I'll see you later."

"Bye babe." Lucy said, waving. He left to let Lucy go back to work. She gave a sigh of relief, then chuckled to herself. He was such a tease. Lucy went to Adrian's room, where the young weasel was due for a checkup.

"How are you?" Lucy asked the steel-grey when she entered his room.

"The pain is still bad."

"That's good. It means…"

"It's healing. I know. You've tried to comfort me with that one before." Adrian said with a groan.

"Well it's true. You've only got about five weeks left."

"I'm going to be so unfit after this."

"Ah, you're into your fitness?"

"Very, and I'm going to be so sick when I get healed." Lucy shook her head. She gave him his medicine then left. He was her last patient for the day, so she had the afternoon to herself. She immediately headed for the stream, feeling like she needed to laugh with Dwain. She went straight there, and found her friend lazily sunning on a rock near the stream. Lucy decided to have some fun. He hadn't seen her yet, because his eyes were closed, nor had he smelt or heard her. Lucy dropped into a crouch, and skittered across the sand without a whisper. She came up behind the rock, and slowly stood up.

"Boo!" she yelled. Dwain gave a yell in surprise and fell off the rock. Lucy laughed so hard tears came to her eyes.

"Jeez Lucy, don't do that." Dwain said after he recovered from his fright.

"Sorry, I just fel like a laugh. You are so easy to scare."

"I was dozing! Of course I was easy to scare." Dwain said. Lucy couldn't tell if he was blushing with embarrassment, but hid face certainly said it. She smirked at him, then jumped on the rock. When she looked down at Dwain, he had s smile on his face.

"What's that smile for?" She said, sitting down on the rock. He climbed up next to her.

"Oh, just that you'll be getting a very big surprise in a week or two." Dwain said in a teasing way.

"What? What is it?"

"I can't tell you, it's a surprise."

"Please."

"Hmm, nope."

"Come on."

"No. Just drop it and put it at the back of your mind. I'm just torturing you."

"There is no surprise is there?"

"There is, you just can't know right now. You'll find out, don't worry, but don't think about it right now."

"I'll try, but you're killing me!"

"Only mentally." Dwain said simply. Lucy laughed. Just then, Jess, Sasha, Steve and Trevor came through the bushes.

"We thought we'd find you here." Jess said. She was hand-in-hand with Trevor, and Lucy gave Jess a look. For the rest of the afternoon, they swam, joked and ate fish. When the light was starting to fade, Lucy and her friends went back home, tired but in good moods. Life in this danger filled world wasn't bad so far.

Three days after Buck and Levi took a ride from the brontosaur, they reached the cave entrance that would take them to the other side. It was a single tunnel that went a lot further than the one that Buck destroyed. There was no canyon, so no need for a bridge. Buck had discovered it while trying to trick Rudy into running into the cave wall. Speaking of Rudy, Buck hears his roar miles to the west. after a while, Rudy roared again, and this time, it was further. _Damn. I really felt like a good fight. doesn't look like I'll get one, _thought Buck. Buck would accompany Levi the whole way through, then quickly head back towards the village. The tunnel was dark, but Buck had good night vision, due to the lack of light in the underground world. They would be able to get through the tunnel with little trouble. They ate as much as they could before they entered. When they felt as energized as they could be, they headed into it. Buck remembered travelling through it to the other side took a long time, but he wasn't exactly sure how long. Maybe a few hours…  
They reached the other side tired and hungry. It had been a lot longer than Buck had predicted, but they eventually made it. The sun was just peeping up over the horizon, meaning Levi and Buck had been travelling for a day and a night. Levi was grateful to see the light. Buck had never been above ground in about three years. The last time he had done it was when he was discovering the path he had just walked. Buck took in the fresher air. Living underground made the air a bit stuffier, along with the humidity of the climate. Soon though, the cold snapped into his body.

"Mate, I've gotta head back or I'm gonna freeze." Buck said with chattering teeth.

"OK. Buck, thanks for everything. I would have never made it without you."

"Well obviously, but, good times just the same. I hope you go live a kick-ass life."

"You too. I might drop by soon."

"They'll be great. But try to avoid the wastelands and the swamp. They're the most dangerous parts."

"I think I'll be alright, if I stick to the path we took. Unless we come across some raptors, but I'll hopefully be fine in that as well."

"Well, take care mate, an' good luck." Buck said, giving Levi a salute. The saber smiled, then ran off into the snow. Buck smiled. He would miss that saber. Buck turned and ran back into the cave. He was hungry and tired, but the faster he got back, the faster he could eat and rest. His stamina took him far before he had to slow down to a walk. After a few more hours of walking, he was ready to run again. Running and walking, Buck eventually reached his underground world. Now, he was starving, and was about to fall over asleep. He went to a fig tree and gorged on its fruit, then fell asleep in its branches. He woke up feeling groggy, but he had to travel as far as he could. His head may have been out of whack, but he could feel that his muscles had loads of energy. Buck climbed down from the tree and started heading back towards the village. Around midday, Buck was passing a small cave area, when he heard the familiar hissing and clicking of danger. Raptors weren't too far away. Buck couldn't waste time leading a chase, so he quickly tried to avoid the sounds, but they clearly had caught his scent. Buck groaned as he heard their 'prey' call, calling each of them to start a hunt. Buck started running, his knife ready in his hand. He could hear them closing in behind him, their hungry call ringing in his ears. He could soon hear the rushing of their feet and claws hitting the ground as they tracked him through the brush. He had to do something, and fast. He quickly scaled a tree, looking for some decently strong vines. His brain was now wide awake, trying to tell Buck what to do and why. Buck found some vines, and started to swing from tree to tree. He could hear that the raptors were falling behind, not sure where he went, because his scent was no longer on the ground. After a while, he could no longer hear them. He stopped swinging for a moment, and landed in a tree. He looked back, scanning the land for any movement. After a few minutes, he accepted that they were not following him anymore. He continued swinging, making up for time. He could feel the wind flowing in his fur, and he started doing flips and tricks just for the fun of it. A couple of times he almost missed the vines and could have been flying towards the ground, but he only came close to missing. He always caught the vine. His hands were tough from swinging on them for six years, and he remembered with a cringe the first time he tried to swing on one, when he was falling through the ice world. His palms had been ripped of his skin, and had been raw and bloody for a whole month. That had never happened since, for Buck had learned fast from his mistakes. Buck swung another mile or so, before the jungle started turning to brush-land, where there was less vines and less trees to swing from. Buck landed neatly on the ground after letting go of the last vine. He then strolled leisurely through the brush, humming to himself. He still had about three days of travel left, and he was getting impatient. He wanted to see his old friends, tell them he was alive and well, and ask what had been happening while he was 'dead'. Buck started running again, even though the light was starting to fade. If he traveled through the night, and through the next day, Buck would make it in a lot less time. He would be tired and hungry, but he'd been in worse conditions before.  
_2 days and 1 night later._  
Buck stumbled towards the stream where Dwain lived. Buck had been travelling non-stop, and he'd had little to eat, and no rest. He would eat some fish, then would pick a tree and sleep. He had reached as far as the stream, and now he could rest. Buck waded into the water, washed his coat, and then stood still in the water to let the fish come to him. Again, instead of fish, came Dwain. He popped up on the rock next to Buck, and smiled at the weasel.

"Hey Buck, I didn't expect to see you for ages. It's only been a week, and I was thinking you would take two." Dwain said.

"I go' impatient, so just traveled without rest an' little food."

"So that's why you look so bashed. I'll help you catch some fish." Dwain said, and swam off. Barely two minutes later, he reappeared with a large fish caught in his paws. Buck thanked him and took the fish. Dwain went and caught a fish for himself, then sat with Buck on the rock. They ate in a comfortable silence, and Buck could feel his energy slowly seep back into him as he ate more of the fish, but the warmth of the day, and the good food made him drowsy with the sleep. He gave a yawn, and Dwain laughed.

"You best get some sleep my friend. You won't be able to surprise your friend when you're half asleep."

"I think I will. Thanks again for the fish." Buck replied, standing up.

"Pleasure, I just want to see the look on your friends faces." Dwain smiled at the thought.

"You'll see i' alrigh'. Seeya Dwain."

"Bye Buck." Dwain dived back into the water and swam off. Buck climbed a tree and curled put on one of the branches, and fell asleep.

_The next day. _

"Lucy, come on! Let's go to the stream." He begged.

"After I've checked on Adrian, then we can go."

"Fine. I'll wait for you." He said, and plonked down on one of the stone chairs. Lucy sighed at her boyfriend, then went to Adrian's room.

"Hey Lucy. My leg feels a lot better today." Adrian said as Lucy appeared in the entrance.

"That's great. I'm just giving you some herbs to help with the bones alright." Lucy said, handing him the plant. He gulped it down without complaint.

"Cool. When do you think I can walk again?"

"Still about a month."

"Damn."

"Sorry, but just keep thinking about those dinosaurs, and time will fly." Lucy said.

"Thanks. See you later."

"Bye." Lucy said, as she walked out. "Alright babe," Lucy said as she entered the room where she had left him, "We can go now."

"Yes!" he said, punching the air. They walked to the stream where Dwain lived, and found that their friends were already hanging around there, Dwain himself included, along with a couple of their ferret friends.

"Hi girl!" Jess called to Lucy, with Sasha waving her over. Lucy waved and ran over to her friends, and her blood-red boyfriend close behind.

Buck was sitting in the tree, watching as the friends gathered near the stream. He was smiling as he watched them talk and swim leisurely. That was until Regal turned up. The blood red weasel was with an extremely beautiful she-weasel, but Buck couldn't recognize the face due to the distance. Buck almost jumped out of the tree and go and punch Regal in the face, but Buck had learnt to tame his temper. Buck may still be mad a Regal for what he did, but Buck had to forgive him eventually. Buck didn't want to live with hatred anymore, he just wanted to see his friends. He wouldn't see them now though. There was too many of them, and he wanted to surprise only his closest friends first, so Buck waited, watching them all for the rest of the day, having a great time. Buck pieced together that the girl with Regal was his girlfriend. Buck thought the girl was too beautiful for Regal. _Poor girl. He's probably a terrible boyfriend. He probably doesn't get her flowers, or knows how to dance either. _Buck had been taught at a young age how to ball dance. His parents had thought it was great, and they had danced all the time with each other. Buck hadn't done it for a long time, but nonetheless knew how to do it. Buck watched them all until they left, when the world was dark and the night sounds had come to life. When they all left, Buck waited for what he thought was an hour, before he got out of the tree. He went to the side of the stream, but didn't have to wait long before a black head popped out of the water, and Dwain came onto shore.

"Be at the canyon early tomorrow mornin' and go to the healing burrow, 'cause that's where Oma, Lucy Sasha and Jess will be stayin', I know them like the back of my paw." Buck told him. Dwain smirked and said,

"I can't wait. See you tomorrow morning then." Buck waved goodbye, then followed the track back to the canyon. He peered over the edge of the canyon, and saw weasels and ferrets walking, laughing and chatting, as if they were above ground again. They had picked an area that had basically no raptors that were carnivorous, and were close to water and shelter. Buck had to hand it to them, they were pretty smart. Buck knew that the elders were the ones keeping order and probably organized rules and laws as well. Buck spotted Oma waddling towards a certain burrow entrance. He took note of which one it was, then ran down the steep track that was clearly the path all the mammals took to get up and down the canyon. He reached the bottom, and hit behind a rock as some females came by, laughing and gossiping. He then went into a crouch, and crawled towards the burrow. Some sticks had been lit as torches, and every few meters, on was stuck in the wall of the canyon to provide light. Buck kept in the shadows, s there was no risk of being seen. Some ferrets came by, swaying and talking with slurred words. Drunk. Clearly they had discovered that the tree sap had a quality to it that made the same effect as alcohol for a human. They stumbled past, and Buck continued again. He reached the entrance of the healing burrow, and ducked inside. There was a small fire in the center of the entrance room, and some stone tables and chairs around. Near the fire, stood the old she-weasel, facing her back to Buck.

"We're only open for emergencies after dark." The old woman said automatically, thinking that just an average weasel was standing behind her. Buck smiled and said,

"I believe I have an appointmen' with the past." Oma turned so quickly Buck thought she would fall over, but she managed to keep her footing.

"I would recognize that stupid accent anywhere." She said, staring at the weasel before her.

"It'd not stupid. You know I just copied my grandfather a lot." Buck snapped at her. Oma didn't say anything, but just gazed at him. "You know it is rude t' stare, righ'?" Buck said. She shook her head and looked away, when she said,

"Everyone thought you were dead. I'm not even sure if it's you. You're different. Shorter hair, taller, less lanky then you were as a kit, you have a patch over your eye, and you're under bite is bigger…You've changed."

"I lost my eye a year after I fell down 'ere. I guess my hair just grew out because of the weather, and I'm taller because of the great food and lifestyle. That's wha' I think anyhow." Buck said. He walked over to stand next to the old woman, and stared at the fire. "I fell down here after I ran away. Now you guys are down 'ere too. Weird twist o' fate tha' was."

"They're going to freak when they find out you're alive." Oma said, turning to look into the fire. "They're all asleep right now, because they had a pool party at the stream, and got pretty worn out."

"I know about th' pool party. I was sitting in the tree nearby and wachin' em." Buck said. "I'll see 'em in the mornin'."  
"You can stay in one of the spare rooms. Follow me." Oma led Buck down the tunnel. There was several rooms off the tunnel. Buck knew that some of his friends would be staying in them. Oma led him to an empty one, and he thanked her before he walked in.  
"Don't thank me. I just want to see the look on their faces when they see you again. Also, I'll have a look at that cut on your side in the morning." Oma said with a smirk. Buck looked down to his side, where the cut was. It was dirty and still red. He smiled at her, then left Buck to sleep. He walked into the chamber stiffly. He hadn't been in a burrow for years, and was afraid the room might cave in. he went to the bed and laid down to sleep. They were all going to get a big shock when morning came.


	5. Chapter 5 Surprise!

Hey guys. I forgot to mention, anything about plants in these stories aren't true. so about the fuchsia, it was false, they don't really help with the healing. Also, I watched the ice age movie again, and realized that i was doing Bucks accent a bit wrong, so please forgive me for that, but I'm not certain how he would talk. most say his accent his purely European, English, but I recon there's some Australian in there as well, because he says 'mate' and some other notes on that, i looked it up, and the said they put a little crocodile Dundee in it. This chapter is a bit short, but it's got some good stuff in it, so I hope you enjoy. Remember, i do not own ice age including characters and settings.

* * *

Buck awoke with voices whispering nearby. He opened his eye just enough to peer through his eyelid. He saw two shadows at the entrance. Buck stayed completely still, and tried to imitate someone sleeping. One of the figures looked feminine. Buck realized it was the beautiful female Regal had been with at the stream. Again, she was in a position that Buck couldn't see her face. But in a position that Buck _could _see, was Regal himself.

"Who is he?" Regal whispered to the girl.

"I don't know. I found him in here early this morning. Oma said she found him near the stream, injured. Dwain was with her, and turned up this morning. He's got a huge scratch down his side, and it looks a little infected." The girl answered.

"He looks a little familiar, but I can't pinpoint it. He's not one of the weasels that live here." Regal said. Buck spotted something horrifying about Regal. Hanging around his neck, was a necklace of dinosaur bone and teeth. Barely two weeks down here, and Regal was already killing anything he could get his hands on. Just like his father, Dex.

"Yeah, he rings a few bells to me too. Anyway, I need to see Oma about the infection, so you need to go."

"Yeah, the boys and I are going out today to see if we can catch any more of those little raptors. I've managed to get one tamed. Must have gotten sick of me whipping it." Regal said with a chuckle. Buck now had new reasons to hate Regal. Hooray. Buck closed his eye as Regal bent down and gave the girl a kiss. After Buck was sure he had gone, he opened his eye again. The girl was still there. Buck closed his eye as she walked over to Bucks bed. Buck heard Oma walk in and say to the girl,

"Go get Dwain as well. I want that slimy mammal." there was the sound of feet walking away, and then Oma said to Buck, "Alright, I know you're awake. You were always a light sleeper and I know their talking would have woken you." Buck smiled and snapped his eye open, then sat up. He then turned to Oma with a scowl and said,

"Tha' girl is way too pretty for Regal."

"She is. She's too smart for him too." She said matching Buck scowl. Just then, Dwain came in, but the girl wasn't with him.

"Feeling up for giving everyone a heart attack?" Dwain asked. Buck gave him a wink and said,

"Always up for that." Buck stood up and stretched.

"Well I need to get my apprentice to heal you, so you're not going anywhere yet." Oma commanded. Buck poked his tongue out at her. She poked him in the stomach, and told him to sit down.

"I've actually got to get home and clean my burrow. It's a mess. I won't see the shock on their faces, but I'll see you later." Dwain said.

"Good to see ya mate. Seeya later." Buck said, Dwain walked out, and the girl appeared in the entrance. Buck looked away from her eyes. He didn't want to look at a girl so beautiful, who was going out with Regal.

"Get his cut cleaned and put some herbs on it." Oma commanded to the girl, who stood in salute and said,

"Ma'am, yes ma'am." Oma nodded and left. The girl went as well, but returned only a minute later, with herbs in her paws. She also had a coconut filled with water, and a soft leaf to use as a cloth. She went over to a stone bench on the other side of the room. Buck stood up and walked over, to see what herbs she had. Buck didn't know much, but he knew the basics. He recognized some of them, and one was particularly painful to put on a wound, but it stopped infection.

"Do you have t' put tha' one on me? It really hurts." Buck said.

"Yes, because I think your cuts already infected. I'll try and make it so it's not so painful."

"Thanks."

"I didn't think you would be susceptible to pain, considering Oma says you live down here."

"I'm alrigh' when it comes to cuts, bruises, and stings, but I hate burns. This will burn my flesh when you put it on, and I know it." He said.

"Sorry but I have to if you want to heal." She said.

"Don't apologize. I'm th' one who should be saying sorry. Here you are tryin' to help me, an' all I can do is complain."

"Don't worry about it. My boyfriend's ten times more annoying than you."

"Yeah, Regal always was a bastard." Buck said automatically. He could feel the girl's eyes on him, probably shocked. Buck decided to pretend he hadn't said it, and picked up another herb. He did recognize it, but wasn't sure what you could use it for. "What's this do?" he asked he girl.

"It helps the wound scab faster. Oma discovered that use when she was travelling around when she was younger."

"Wait, Oma was younger at one point?" Buck joked. The girl laughed openly and said while giggling,

"Yeah, unbelievable isn't it?"

"It's beyond explanation." Buck said again, smiling. The girl laughed again, then said,

"Go and sit down. I'll get that wound healed." Buck did as he was told and walked over to the bed and sat on it. It was suspended in the air by dirt packed up against the wall until it formed a bench, with the comfy leaved put on top. He sat and watched as the girl ground up some of the herbs. When she turned, Buck got a glimpse of her eyes. Emerald. Bucks heart skipped a beat, and he stood up slowly. The girl looked up, and put a puzzled expression on.

"Lucy. Is tha' you?" Buck whispered. Alarm crossed her face. She dropped the herbs she was holding, then glanced at something on the ground next to her. As quick as lightning, she picked it up and pointed it threateningly at Buck. It was his knife. He'd left it there, not thinking anyone would try and use it. He ignored her threat and walked closer. She stared at him and asked,

"How do you know me?"

"No one else in the world has eyes like tha'. Lucy, it's me, Buck." Lucy's eyes widened, but she kept the knife pointed at him. He was now so close that he could feel the knife tip on his chest. Lucy shook her head and said,

"No, you can't be. Buck died when he ran away. He never came back."

"Then how d'you know I'm dead?" Buck asked. Lucy looked at him, almost pleadingly. She so wanted to believe him, he could see it. But she'd always been a realist. Buck knew what would make her believe him.

"Remember that snowball fight? How we won, and we got to ditch the snowballs at my brothers team? Do you believe me now, Lucy?" Lucy looked at him for a second, and the knife lowered a little. As quick as Lucy had snatched it off the ground, Buck grabbed it out of her hand and dropped it behind him. Lucy didn't react to the movement, but stood there, he face aghast.

"Buck?" she asked in a whisper. He nodded. "You've changed."

"So 'ave you. Your fur's darker." Buck said. He only just noticed this. Her fur used to be a caramel blonde, but now it swung more to the caramel side. She smiled, and Buck smiled back.

"Oh, the herbs." Lucy suddenly said. She picked up the scattered herbs, and Buck helped. When they both stood up, they went over to the bed. Buck sat still and silent as Lucy inspected and cleaned his wound. Suddenly he remembered something, and it hit him like a tidal wave.

"You're dating REGAL!?" he almost yelled at her. Lucy stopped her work and looked away. "How, after wha' he used to do to us? He was such a jerk." Buck said. "Judging by the bones around his neck, he still is." Buck growled.

"You're wrong. He's changed. Apart from the slaying bit. Yes, he kills and tames dinosaurs, but apart from that, he's better than before. He felt really guilty about what he did, Buck."

"I know, an' I forgive him for tha', but he still kills things." Buck said.

"He tames dinosaurs as well." Lucy tried to lighten the mood.

"Using a whip." Buck added for her. She frowned, the continued her work.

"You care for the dinosaurs a lot." She said. Buck smiled and said,

"They were the only thing I cared about for six years." Buck added with a chuckle Even though one in particular continuously tries to kill me." Lucy raised her eyebrow with a serious face. Then she slowly smiled.

"You always were fearless."

"You eventually get used to fear." Buck said with a smile. Lucy then asked him,

"How did you get down here." So he told her the whole story. He told her how he lost his eye, and many other great stories. Lucy was nearly finished with her work when he said,

"That's just about all of it. What about you? I've been goin' on an' on, and yet you haven't told me a thing. Tell me how you and Regal started goin' out."

Lucy was surprised that Buck wanted to know, but realized he wanted to try and see what Regal was like before he judged.

"Well, it was about a year ago, and he started being really nice to me. He was getting me flowers, and when I moved into Oma's burrow to help her do healing work, he got me a jewel necklace. He made it, and I keep it in my room and wear it when I go on dates with him. I felt like wearing it the day that the earthquake happened, and that was lucky. I prize it. It's just so beautiful."

"Is it emerald?" Buck asked.

"Yeah, how did you guess?"

"It would match your eyes, that's all. I think Regal picked emerald on purpose." Buck smiled at her, and she smiled back.

"Well, then we started hanging out a lot, and he would make me laugh all the time. His jokes aren't as good as Jai's though." She said, but wanted to take it back. But Buck didn't seem to be bothered by it. He laughed and said,

"Yeah, Jai definitely was a comedian. He had a knack for makin' people laugh."

"Any way, one night he asked me to go with him on a walk at night. I did, and he took me around, and we talked about things. He'd recently lost his father," at this, Lucy shot Buck a look, knowing he'd disliked Dex as much as he hated Regal, but Buck didn't change his curious expression, "and we talked about other things, like how life was and stuff. Eventually we reached this little hill under a tree. He then confessed his love for me, and kissed me. Then it went on from there." Lucy said. She didn't add, _it wasn't as romantic as what you would have done. _Instead she finished her healing work and got up to leave.

"Where are the others at?" Buck asked.

"They're probably all at the stream. Regal's out on an adventure."

"Don't you mean a hunting trip? I hard wha' you two were sayin' when you were both standin' in the doorway."

"Oh." Was all Lucy replied with. Then said, "I've got more work to do, but you can head there if you want."

"I'll only appear if Dwain's there." he said, then asked, Do ya wan' any help with the healin'?"

"No, it's alright. I'll see you at the stream."

"Seeya Lucy." Buck said, and walked out the burrow.

Buck made caution for no one to see him when he was leaving the village. He was heading to the stream, and he heard laughter and voices. He hid behind a tree and scanned the stream until he saw a bunch of weasels, ferrets, and one otter. Among them were Jess, Sasha, Trevor and Steve. Dwain was there with them, and there was a variety of other weasels Buck recognized. They had a pile of food not so far away, and had egg shells in their paws. Buck knew they were squeezing the juices into the water of their cups. Unlike the tree sap, it wasn't alcoholic, but still tasted great. Buck knew exactly what Dwain would do if he spotted Buck, so he stepped from behind the tree and appeared out of the brush. Dwain was the first to spot him, due to his great eyesight, and waved to Buck.

"Buck, get over here brother." Buck smiled at the otter. Faces turned to see Buck strolling towards them. Dwain gave him a shell cup full of the berry drink, and Buck gulped it in one go.

"I haven't seen you 'round here before." Jess said, raising an eyebrow. "Who are you?" she asked.

"Don't you recognize an old friend when you see one Jess?" Buck said with a mocking smile. Jess looked annoyed for a second, then her jaw started to drop.

"No way. BUCK!?"

"Well, that's what Dwain said." Buck said with the same smile. Sasha and some other gasped and talked. "What's been hapenin' while I've been dead." Buck asked.

"Buck!" Trevor yelled, walking over with a huge smile. "I hear the angels are pretty up there."

"You would 'ave never seen one prettier." Buck said. Trevor smiled and slapped Buck on the back.

"Good to see you're still alive these days." Steve said, walking over. Buck thought the guy couldn't have gotten any bigger when they were kids. He was immediately proven wrong. Steve stood a whole head higher than Buck. Then again, he always had.  
"Even though I doubt what he says about the angels. I'm pretty sure I've seen the most beautiful." Trevor said, wrapping his arm around Jess' waist. Bucks jaw dropped.

"You two? A couple? That's great!" Buck cried. Laughter and chatter filled the air as Buck was welcomed back. It felt weird to him, having other around him, but he soon got used to the uncomfortableness of it. He relaxed a little, and asked how life was for them below ground. They said they'd had little trouble with the dinosaurs, and Buck explained to them why. He then told them (with much action and expression) how he had fallen down and started a fight with the raptors on his first encounter, then of losing his eye. He was giving them the best entertainment they'd seen since he disappeared. At the end, they even applauded. Buck felt weird about them applauding, but bowed nonetheless. A few months before, they thought they'd never see him ever again, but now he was standing right in front of them.

Regal and his friends had managed to catch another mini raptor. There was a type that were three feet large, but they were a bit too big to tame, so Regal had been searching for another, smaller type, and had eventually found one. They were about only a foot and a half. They were perfect, and Regal had already broken one in. Now they had caught another one with vine ropes. At this rate, he would have enough for his whole gang to ride. Jeremy, his wing-man and best friend, said to Regal

"Bet ya Lucy'll be impressed with'is."

"She always is." Regal said, smiling. Lucy, probably the most beautiful girl Regal had ever seen. She used to love Buck, but when that dumb-ass ran off, she gave up, and let Regal date her. Regal led his friends to the village path, and they walked down carefully, pulling the raptor along. It hissed and tugged in refusal, so Regal got his vine whip out and gave it a few lashed to the legs.

"Keep moving you stupid creature." He yelled. It screeched and kept moving, although its legs hurt from the assault. Regal smiled at the progress. They tied it up to one of the posts they'd made, next to the tamed one.

"Come on boys. The others will be up at the stream. Let's go say hello." Regal said. His friend cheered. There was about twenty of them. They all started to move up the track, but Regal started to move down the canyon to the healing shack

"Aren't ye comin' Regal?" Jeremy yelled from the track.

"I'm going to get Lucy. I'll meet you guys there." he called, then walked inside the burrow.

"Hey babe." Lucy said as he appeared.

"Hey gorgeous. The boys and I caught another raptor today, so we're heading to the stream. You coming?"

"Yeah, I'll come." She said, and took his hand as they walked together to the stream. When they reached there, there was a lot more noise than usual. Laughter was going crazy. Lucy smiled, and Regal was confused. What he didn't know was that she knew what was happening at the stream. When they got close enough to hear, there heard an accented voice yelling,

"An' then this bloody male t-Rex turns up, and he's real pissed off a' me!" laughter erupted around the voice. Regal walked closer, and spotted a familiar figure in the middle of the crowd. He was the one that had been sleeping in the healing burrow.

"Then what happened?" asked one of Regal's friends.

"The thing chases me, an' then I spot a cliff and' didn't hesitate jumpin' off." There was a gasp as the weasel said it, then he laughed and said, "There was a stream below the cliff, but I almost got drowned, because the 'eavy rains had made th' currents swirl like crazy." The weasel had a single eye, the other covered by a patch. Regal saw a slight sign of a scar beneath the patch. So the patch wasn't an accessory, because he'd clearly lost his eye. "I managed to climb onto the bank and laid there for days, exhausted. I then got up and kept livin'." The weasel finished. Questions were fired at him, and he answered them simply. He looked in Regal's direction at one point, and spotted the red weasel, and something like recognition crossed his face.

"Hello, Regal." Said the weasel with a smirk, "Surprise." Everyone turned to Regal. Regal stood there, trying to hide his shock. He recognized those bright blue eyes. Buck was alive.


	6. Chapter 6 Stories

Oh my god, so sorry guys that i haven't posted in ages. I actually have limited access to the internet, and school has started again, so I'm typing a lot slower than on the holidays. school comes first, sorry. I am giving a warning to readers, because some stuff that's mentioned in here is pretty hard core disturbing, but i tried to make it as realistic as possible to fit some of the characters personalities. I'm sorry if anyone takes offense because I didn't mean anything by it. Well, here you go, I don't own any of Blue sky's characters or settings.

* * *

Buck sneered at Regal, and was enjoying every minute of it. "Yeah, I'm alive."

"You've been under here the whole time?" Regal asked, stunned.

"Yup. This place is great isn't it?" Buck asked,

"The locals are the downfall." Someone called from the crowd. Everyone laughed. Buck wiped tears of laughter away from his eye.

"I'll take my tail off to whoever just came up with that one." He said, giving a sigh.

"How did you not go insane from the years of isolation?" Regal asked with a smug look.

"Who said I wasn't insane?" Buck retorted. Everyone laughed again. Regal held up his hand and said,

"How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Blue." Everyone laughed even harder than before. Buck smiled in a way that almost hurt his cheeks. They already did. He'd been telling funny and daring stories for hours. His cheeks, sides and brain hurt from so much laughter. He missed laughing for so many years. If he wanted to die laughing, he would have just gone to the Chasm of Death, but he didn't like the idea of the dying part. He hadn't laughed with others for six whole years.

"You're stupider than I remember." Regal said, and before he could stop the words cross his lips, he added, "Just like your brother." Before he even blinked Buck was up in his face with a tooth knife at Regal's throat. Everyone gasped at the speed Buck had done it. Lucy stepped back with wide eyes.

"You're the one who shouldn't be sayin' things about my brother." Buck spat. He then withdrew his knife from Regal's throat. Regal let out a breath that he'd held in since the threat of having his blood spilled. Buck glared at him still, before someone called from the crowd,

"What's that sound?" everyone paused to listen. There was a small rustle of leaves, and a small clicking sound. Bucks knife tensed in his hand as he stared at the jungle on the opposite side of the stream. He then said, in the most casual voice,

"Raptors. Carnivorous ones, too. They must have followed me south." He turned to the crowd and said, "Head back t' the village as fast as you can. Their vision isn't based on movement like a t-Rex, so they'll still attack if you're standin' still. Go, quickly." He said, then ran into the stream and out onto the other side. A couple of weasels ran off back towards the village, but one of them stood forward, Lucy. She was staring into the jungle where Buck had gone. When everyone was about to run away as well, a certain sound filled the air and they stopped and looked back. There was cries of…excitement? Then, out of the jungle on the other side, a raptor burst out of the brush, with Buck on its back, holding a vine rope that was wound into the raptors jaws. He was waving his knife like it was a lasso, and a wild grin was on his face. The raptor was jumping and bucking, trying to get rid of the mammal, but it was no use. Buck had a tight hold. Another raptor came out of the jungle and went for Buck. He jumped and landed on its back, with the vine from the other raptor still in his hand. He pulled with mighty strength, and the two raptors crashed into each other. They dropped to the sand with dazed expressions. A third one came towards him, but he just kept jumping out of the way. He avoided its snapping jaws, but was using his knife to prod it when it was close enough. It would snap at him, and he would slip out of range under its belly, then stab its leg with the knife. It eventually fell over trying to get him under its legs. A fourth on ended up running into a tree, and a fifth, hanging from the same tree, caught in some vines. All the while, the weasels and ferrets and Dwain were watching in wonder. The sixth tripped over and Buck tied it to a rock. The last one was more careful than its companions. It stayed back from his knife, but tried to slice him with its talons. When it got especially close, Buck said with a smile,  
"Ooh, I felt some breeze in that one." It snarled and launched at him. Buck threw a rock at it and it was dazed for a second. That was enough time for Buck to swing at it from the treetops and used all his body weight to knock it to the ground. It got up again, shook its head and ran off, along with the rest of its kind. Buck smiled and he jumped down from the vine he was still swinging on. When he landed and looked up, everyone was staring at him in admiration and awe. He simply smiled at them, walking over, and said,  
"You should've seen 'em last week. They were actually hungry then." He strolled past with his knife slung over his shoulder.

Regal glared at the spotted back of the weasel that had just left everyone with the expression of amazement on their faces. One minute he's dead, the next he's trying to kill Regal, and then he's saving everyone in a rodeo show. This guy was an unpredictable lunatic. Regal saw Lucy smiling after Buck. That was bad. Lucy loved him six years ago, and now the guy was back, that meant competition for Regal. Regal went over to Lucy and put on a fake smile,  
"He's quite something." He said, wrapping his arm around Lucy's shoulder. She snuggled into his chest and said,  
"Not as much as a something as you." Regal smiled with satisfaction, then led Lucy back to the village, with the world darkening around them, signaling the night time was closing in.

Lucy had gone back to the healing shack, to find all her friends in the main room, sitting on stone rocks, laughing and chatting with Buck. Jess called to Buck,

"So, how are your feelings about Regal." Lucy hid behind the entrance at this question. No one had seen her yet, so she quietly sat and waited for Buck to answer. It didn't take long.

"Honestly, the guys as much of a pig as 'e was when we were kids. Lucy deserves a million times better than that idiot." Buck said, making a face that was disgusted. Everyone laughed at his response.

"Well she thinks it is love." Sasha said. The girl was always a softy. Buck snorted and said,

"The guys probably just usin' her for her kindness and…" He added darkly, in a gruff voice, "other things." Everyone looked shocked at what he was saying, but he looked serious. The laughter had gone for now.

"You think that's all he wants her for?" Sasha asked quietly.

"What else? The guy ain' got a heart. He could never love her fully, or even at all. He just loves her body, and what he can do with it. He's just evil." Buck said in the same tone. Everyone was silent for a minute, before Steve said,

"So, what do we do about it?"

"Nothin'. We may hate the guy, (or I do anyway), but we can't go up to Lucy and say 'hey your boyfriends a using bastard, so you've got to dump him'. That's just mean. Don' go calling him names in front of her, or talk about him in a mean way, just ignore him. Hopefully Lucy'll figure out what to do on her own."

"What if he hurts her?" Trevor asked. Jess and Buck said at the exact same time,

"Then I'll break his bloody neck." They looked at each other and everyone laughed. Lucy stepped back from the entrance way. Did they hate Regal that much? Did they think Regal would hurt her? Would they really hurt him back if he did? Lucy shook her head,  
_No. there's no point in thinking about it, because he would never hurt you. _She thought those words over and over. _He would never hurt you. _And what Jess and Buck had said in unison worried her more. Buck had said those exact words to her six years before, when Regal was plotting to hurt Buck. She ran out the healing burrow and back to the stream. She sat on a rock in the dark, her knees brought up to her body, and her arms on top of them. She gazed into the darkened water, watching it swirling and flowing in the night.

"Where is Lucy by the way?" Buck asked, looking around the room.

"I don't know. I saw her with Regal, but I thought she'd come back by now." Sasha said.

"I hope she didn't hear what we said." Jess said, pure concern on her face. Upsetting Lucy was the last thing in the world Jess wanted to do.

"She might've gone back to the stream if she did." Buck said.

"She does like it there." Steve said, knowing his cousin well.

"Let's go then." Buck said, standing.

"Wait, should we?" Sasha said, and Buck looked at her with a confused expression. "Well, if she went to the stream to be alone, shouldn't we leave her there."

"I recon Buck should go on his own." Jess said.

"Why me?" Buck said, "You're her best friend."

"She's seen you for one day after six years. She'll accept your company more than mine." Jess said, and the look on the others faces said they agreed with her.

"Fine, I'll go get 'er than." Buck said, grabbing his knife and leaving. Behind him he heard Jess say,

"Buck still loves Lucy." Buck also heard Sasha reply with,

"He's better for her than Regal." And Buck left at those words. He didn't want to put strain on Lucy's relationship with Regal. Sure, he didn't like the guy, but he didn't want to ruin it for Lucy. He walked quickly towards the direction of the stream, but stopped just before the shrubbery ended. He saw her figure sitting on a rock, and her head bent low. Buck sighed quietly enough for her not to hear him. By the way she was bent onto her knees, Buck could tell she'd heard what they said about Regal. Buck walked out silently, his feet light on the ground, and his breath quiet and slow. He moved to her side.

Lucy didn't even flinch when she looked up and saw him. He didn't smile at her, seeing the tears shining on her face. Instead, he sat on the rock next to her and stared at the water with her. After a good while, Lucy said in a croaky voice from the crying,

"I didn't know they hated him that much. I thought they had grown a liking to him since I was going out with him."

"They might be reflecting my own feelings more than their own. Anythin' you heard back there was jus' me ventin' a little. They probably don' hate him like I do, they jus' think you could do better. They don' have a liking for dinosaurs as much as me, so aren' effected as much as me when they see the bones and teeth around his neck. They want you to be happy though. Remember, it's your life, and we can't take charge of it." Buck said, poking her in the arm with his claw. Lucy smiled, but was still troubled. She decided she needed to ask Buck the question that was nagging her.

"If, say, Regal did actually hurt me, not that he would, but _if _he did, would you really kill him?" Buck pouted his lip a little in thought.

"I'd give him a warning shot, and he'd wake up with a bloody big head ache, but that would be one time. If he hurt you again, then I'd kill 'im."

"Like actually kill him? No joking or metaphorically, but seriously. Would you kill him the second time." Buck pouted again, then nodded his head once, staring back into the water. Lucy looked at him to see if he was serious, but his single blue eye was expressionless. Lucy wondered what he was thinking about. She couldn't imagine how he felt towards Regal. First Regal had killed Bucks brother, then when Regal had fallen down here, had started killing and capturing dinosaurs which Buck had protected and befriended for the past six years. Not to mention the way Regal had treated them when they were younger. Buck must really hate Regal. Lucy just felt disturbed by the thought of Regal ever hurting her.

"He would never hurt me." she said quietly, more to herself then to Buck. He didn't look up when he said,

"Never say never." He then got up and said.

"Well, I best get back and get some sleep. I've got a while to travel tomorrow." Lucy pricked her ears and looked at him, then said,

"You're leaving?"

"Yeah. I'll never live in the village Lucy. I still love bein' on huge adventures, an' can't wait to almost get killed again." as he said this, a gleam in his eye told Lucy he was serious.

"Will you be back?"

"Of course. But then I'll soon leave again. I won' ever settle in the village, like I said."

"Oh. I thought you would stay." Lucy said, staring back into the water.

"Lucy, you have no idea what it's like ou' there for me. There's adventure at every corner and under every rock. Danger engulfs this world. It's perfect. And you guys are in the safest part of the entire Dino world. That canyon is totally safe."

"The elders said it might flood." Buck gave a wave of his paw at Lucy's words.

"Nah, it'll never happen. That end of the canyon that you guys are in is going uphill, so the water will surge downward away from you guys." Buck said confidently.

"Alright. I will trust your word on that." Lucy said. "So you're really leaving in the morning?"

"Yeah, but I'll be back."

"When?"

"Dunno." Lucy groaned at his words. Last time he left, he didn't show for six year, and the only reason he showed was because Lucy and the others fell into _his _world. "Don' worry. I won't be gone for that long this time." He said with a smile. Lucy hoped he wasn't lying. He turned and left to go back to the village.

Lucy woke up in her chamber. She'd woken up early again, because of the dark grey light outside. Lucy gasped when she realized Buck might be gone. She ran to his room, but could still see a rusty brown figure lying on the bed. She sighed, and walked out of the burrow. She would go to the stream again. When she reached there, she decided to bathe while everyone was asleep. She dived into the water, feeling its warmth cover her entire body. The water was deep in some parts, and then it was shallow. You had to be careful where you dived. Lucy had discovered that wherever a large boulder near the water is, it's where the deep area is. The boulders provided good diving posts. Lucy swam around, then went to the shallows and started rubbing her fur with the shores sand, to get other dirt and grime out of her fur. She washed out the sand, and felt hunger start to eat at her own stomach. She caught a fish in the shallow end, and ate it happily. She then washed her fur again, and swam lazily around the stream. When she decided to get out, she shook the water out of her fur and sat on a rock to dry in the as the world lightened.

Buck had watched from the shrubbery as Lucy swam around the stream as if there was nothing better to do. There _wasn't _anything better for her to do. Buck found himself smiling as he watched her shake out the water and sit on her rock. _You pervert! _A voice rang in his head. Buck turned away from the beautiful sight. He couldn't be looking at her like that. She loved Regal, and Buck couldn't mess that up, otherwise he was dead meat. He had to keep those feelings for her locked away. Buck shook his head to clear it, and started walking towards Lucy, as silent as the night before. When he was right behind her, he leaped and cried,

"Boo!" she squealed and jumped forward into the stream. Buck laughed and pointed at her as she walked out of the water. She was trying to look angry, but Buck could tell she was holding back a laugh. "I need to teach you a bit about taking note of your surroundings." Buck said, putting his fists on his hips. She glared up at him when she said proudly,

"I can sneak up on my friends without them knowing."

"I'll be the judge of that. I'll first teach you how to not get scared, then I'll teach you how to sneak up on others."

"I told you, I already know how to sneak up on others." Lucy said, annoyed,

"And I said, I'll be the judge of that." Buck said with smirk.

"Fine then. I'll scare you." Lucy said. Buck snorted in doubt, and Lucy's ears folded back. He smiled knowingly, then said,

"You can try when I get back. I'm headin' off now." He said, starting to stroll into the water.

"Buck, wait." Buck turned at Lucy's words. "Promise you'll come back, and not just in six years." Lucy said, concern showing on her face. Buck smiled in a charming way, and looked her in the eye. She was so beautiful.

"I promise I'll come back." Then he turned, went to the other side of the bank, and disappeared into the brush, acting like he'd never been at the village. Adventure awaited him beyond the stream, and now he was there.

Lucy watched him with a certain concern in her gut. Not concern for Buck, he'd just fought raptors in front of her eyes the day before. It was a concern that he won't come back to the village…by choice. Maybe the suddenness of seeing everyone again had driven him into a shell of isolation. Maybe so many years of being on his own meant he wanted to stay like that. Maybe he never wanted to come back…ever. Then Lucy remembered something Buck had said to her the night before. _Remember, it's your life, and we can't take charge of it. _Buck could stay out of the village as long as he needed. As long as it wasn't six years… Lucy frowned, then remembered he'd promised to come back. He'd always kept his promises. He would come back. These thought comforted Lucy a little, and she laid back on the rock in the lighting world.

Immediately after Buck left the village, he was heading straight off in the direction he'd last heard Rudy roar. The weasel needed some familiarity. Sure, it was great seeing all his friends and such, but the past six years couldn't disappear from Buck's life in the blink of an eye. Another adventure with Rudy would bring back some excitement. The fight with the raptors had only been a small satisfaction. He needed something big, and the biggest thing he could think of was Rudy, and he just happened to have serious issues with Buck. He smiled at the thought of pulling another trick on the albino once again. Buck traveled for a week, trying to get the attention of every dangerous dino he came across, so he had a whole head full of new stories to tell the gang. Buck reached the furthest part of the Execution Jungle that was away from the village. He heard the occasional roar from Rudy, and the baryonix was really close. Buck started picking his way carefully through the brush, not sure where Rudy would turn up. Buck felt a slight breeze to his left. A warm breeze. Buck jumped out of the way as huge crocodilian jaws snapped at where he'd just been standing.

"Awwwww, I missed you too." Buck said, laughing. He started running in and out of the trees as Rudy followed, his claws sometimes getting so close Buck could feel the wind caused from the motion of them. Buck ducked as talons sliced above his head. He just avoided a tail bash when Rudy decided to just leap at him. Buck had never seen this coming, and got caught under the foot. He squeezed his top half out quickly between two of Rudy's claws. He didn't go pop goes the weasel, like he did a couple of months before, but almost panicked when Rudy jaws closed an inch above his head. He was really in a spot. Buck tried slashing at Rudy's fingers with his own claws, but Rudy's scales were too thick. Buck decided trying to jump out was a better idea. He ripped the rest of his body out of the fingers, just before Rudy's jaws once again came down. Rudy had gone too far with his jaws this time, and ended up biting his own finger. He roared in pain, and Buck laughed for a second. Bucks laughter stopped abruptly when he was whacked sideways by Rudy's tail. Buck was bashed against a tree, and his head swam and he felt like he'd been crushed by something. But Buck couldn't stop. Rudy was still after him. Buck grabbed his knife which had slipped out of his paw, and kept running north. Soon they would reach the Wastelands of Uncertainty. Buck would have to turn around and head back another way. If there was anywhere Buck didn't want to go, it was the Wastelands of Uncertainty. When Bucks head stopped swimming from the bash, he climbed a tree as quick as he could, and grabbed a vine. He swung towards another tree, with Rudy barely a meter behind. Buck used his weight to go straight next to the tree, the swung sideways. The action made the vine come across the tree, and it swung Buck in a 360 motion as quick as lightning. Rudy tried to whiplash his body after Buck, but the action made the baryonix trip over, and his head hit the ground with huge force. Buck used the vines to get as far as he could away from the wastelands. He then waited for Rudy to come lumbering into the area. He didn't have to wait long. Buck saw Rudy come up from where they were last fighting.

"Hey, where ya bin?" Buck cried. Rudy's eyes turned furious as he spotted the weasel sitting leisurely in a tree. He came straight at Buck. Buck had another vine in his hand and swung in circles, confusing the albino and making him madder. Buck chuckled as he saw Rudy trying to follow the weasel and snapping his snout. Buck hopped from tree to tree, letting Rudy think that he had the weasel one second, and then he was gone the next. During one of the times that Buck had disappeared again, he came up with the funniest plan he'd had in ages. He grabbed another vine and called to Rudy in a tree. Rudy went at him, snapping his snout. Buck jumped as high as he could and landed square on Rudy's nose. As Buck predicted, Rudy threw back his head, and Buck went flying backwards towards Rudy's back. He landed near the neck, and started running downwards to Rudy's tail. Rudy couldn't feel the tiny mammal on his back, so was standing still and scanning the jungle for him. Buck reached the tail and crawled to the end of it, then tied the vine to the tip of Rudy's tail. He then cut the vine about fifteen meters from the tip of the tail. Buck grabbed the loose end of the vine and whistled up at Rudy. Rudy turned, and went nuts finding the weasel had been _on _him the whole time. Rudy went to snap again. Before he jaws even came halfway down, Buck leaped threw them, missing some of the teeth by an inch. To Bucks delight, his own weight was enough to bring the tail forward. Rudy bit down at just the right time, giving his own tail the full bite. He pulled back immediately and gave a roar that made the ground tremble. Buck smiled at his work, then hid in a tree hollow, waiting for Rudy to give up and go away. Both of them had had enough for the day. Rudy searched for another hour, before deciding revenge could wait another day. He stormed off and away from the scene, feeling hatred burning inside. Buck chuckled as he watched Rudy go far from where he sat in the hollow. It was getting late, and Buck was feeling a little hungry. He came out of the hollow and to the ground, trying to find a food tree. The Dino world was amazing. The temperature was just right for any kind of food to grow. Apples, bananas, oranges, lemons, pineapples, figs, dates and tons of other kinds. Buck favorites were fig, mango and apples. He'd lost his appetite for pineapple a couple of months before. Buck came across a date tree, so climbed it and ate until he was full. He then curled up and fell asleep.

It had been two weeks since Buck had left. Lucy wasn't getting worried, and found herself excited about stories he would bring back. She noticed Regal was getting defensive whenever Lucy mentioned her old friend, so learned not to mention Buck at all to Regal. Lucy had to keep herself busy, focusing on Adrian and his leg, and helping Oma with other patients. Regal was always going out and trying to catch and tame the mini-raptors. He did it cruelly, and Lucy flinched every time he would bring one in, bleeding and tired from being chased and whipped into submission. Then they would party at the large tree next to the stream. They would get drunk on the sap, and sing and dance. Sometimes Lucy would go, partying with them and having a great time, but other nights she just sat on her rock and listened to the flowing water. The tree was further up the stream, so she didn't have to hear the sound of fights or singing when she didn't want to. Regal would always try and convince her to come to his nightly parties, but she would sometimes just say no, and he would shrug then leave. Adrian was healing well, and had less than a month of healing to go. Lucy right now smiled down at Adrian as he whined about not being able to walk.

"How much longer..?" He whined, trying to move is leg up and down with a grimace.

"Couple more weeks and you'll be alright." Lucy said.

"That long?" Adrian shoulders sulked.

"Yes that long." Lucy said, preparing something for him to sleep easily with.

"When's Buck coming back? I didn't get to meet him last time." Adrian said.

"To be honest, I'm not sure. You'll meet him the next time he comes around." Lucy said, not taking her eyes off the medicine.

"Promise." The word made her stop for a second. Could she promise him? _Of course you can.  
_

"I promise." She said, starting to work again. She gave him the medicine, then left. Regal appeared in the entrance of her chamber when she was putting away the healing equipment.

"Going to tree again?" Lucy asked.

"Actually, the boys and I are going on a hunting trip that'll take a couple of days."

"So I won't see you for at least two days?" Lucy asked sadly. She saw him every day, and would miss him if he was gone for that long.

"Three probably." Lucy frowned at his answer. What if he got hurt? Buck could survive easily because he'd been down here for years, but Regal had been down here for a month.

"You might get hurt, or killed." Lucy said with concern.

"I'll be fine." Regal said with a wave of his paw. "I'll see you in a week. Bye." He said, giving her a kiss and leaving. It was like he wanted to be gone as long as he could. First he said two days, then three, then a week! Lucy grimaced, then continued putting things away. When she was done, the world had an orange tinge, signaling dusk. Lucy started walking leisurely to the stream. She went past a couple of herbivorous species, and decided to test their resistance. She wasn't going to hurt or annoy them, but wanted to see if they would let her climb onto them. There was a triceratops not too far away, so she went over to it. It continued to eat the plant it was picking at, barely noticing the weasel approaching it. Lucy took a deep breath as she crouched into a leaping position, and launched onto the dinosaurs back. It lifted its head in surprise, but, noticing no danger around, resumed eating again. Lucy walked towards the neck, but sat down on the shoulders. The dinosaur took a few steps but didn't go very far. Lucy stayed there for a few minutes before getting off again. It was nice being up there, but she needed something with more speed and excitement. Lucy would find another dino to ride another day, but right now she just wanted to relax on her favorite rock by the stream. Lucy reached it, and the world was a little darker. She laid back against the rock and gave a sigh. There was a small thud, then something rustled, in the bushes over the other side of the stream, in the same spot the raptors had last attacked. Lucy sat up and stared, watching as closely as she dared and her ears swiveled as far forward as they could. Lucy's breath quickened as another rustle went. Lucy started to get up. Before she was about to turn and run something grabbed her from behind. A paw went over her mouth and a strong arm around her arms and torso. She tried to scream, but it was muffled by the paw.

"Calm down. Try to struggle and you'll regret it." Someone hissed in her ear. Lucy was confused. How could she struggle anyway? She couldn't bite the hand because they were holding her jaws together as well. They were in a position she couldn't kick them, and her arms were locked. She couldn't get away. Eventually she just relaxed her muscles. She took note of the strength this person (whoever it was) had. "That's better." The person said. Then, to Lucy's shock, they let go of her. She leaped forward and turned to face them. A single bright blue eye stared down at her with a cocky smile on their face. Lucy ran over and tried to punch Buck in the shoulder, but he dodged it easily.

"Told ya I could sneak up on ya easily." He mocked, tripping her over as she tried to hit him again. She hit the ground and sand sprayed up, falling onto her fur. She got up and dusted herself off.

"You didn't have to capture me in the process." Lucy spat. She was still mad at him. He looked guiltily at her, and mumbled,

"Sorry, I didn' realize you'd be this mad." Lucy stopped dusting herself off and looked at him.

"No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap. I guess I'm just a little startled that you're back." Lucy said, just a guiltily.

"Well, I ain't dead, in case you hadn' noticed." Buck said, his ears pricking up and a smirk on his face.

"That is a good sign." Lucy said, then put her paw on her chin and said, "Although, I never thought you would die, more the fact that you wouldn't come back."

"I would always come back." Buck said with a wave of his paw.

"Good, because I don't want you disappearing for another six years." Lucy said, raising an eyebrow.

"I ain' think that's gonna happen any time soon." Buck said, copying her expression. She smiled and halfheartedly punched him in the gut. He didn't even flinch, but half-heartedly shoved her. They strolled back over to the stream, and Lucy noticed how he walked with more of a spring in his step than last time she saw him. When she asked him why, he put on the familiar grin and said,

"'cause I've got some more stories."

"About some more adventures?"

"Adventures, danger, runnin', hidin', fightin', laughin', and a hell a lot of fun." Buck said.

"Can't wait." Lucy said with a smile.

"You'll have to. I'm only gonna tell 'em tonight when the rest come 'round." Buck said.

The others came when night had fallen. They'd heard that Buck was back, and immediately started talking about what he would have done on his latest adventure. Jess thought that he would've had another run in with raptors. Steve said he would've fought Rudy, and Trevor and Sasha thinks he would've rode some pterodactyls. When they got to the stream, lit a fire and sat around it, they found at that all of them were equally right. About 20 weasels and ferrets, (and Dwain) turned up to hear the story. Buck was glad when he found out Regal was away, but his ears went flat as Trevor told him it was a hunting trip. Buck also didn't like to hear that Regal now had about ten mini-raptors for his men and himself. Buck go over it quickly though, as he started to tell of his adventures. He told of how he'd fought Rudy and tripped him, he'd ridden a brontosaurus and how he'd ridden pterodactyls _and _giant moths. His great re-enactments got everyone hooked, and their faces changed from fear to shock to laughter as he went on. He finally finished, falling into a pit of laughter as he finished with a funny story about getting caught in some vines and had been trying to untangle himself for hours. He had dropped his knife to the ground at the time, so there was little help there. His friends laughed at him, and mocked him with good humor. They laughed and talked about other things, like how life was underground. Buck told them how he thought it was paradise, and the rest had to agree. Lucy spoke up,

"How can it be paradise? Sure, it's an easy life where we've fallen, but Buck has told us of places that are more dangerous than we can imagine. It is paradise in our little canyon, but not out there, in the real part of the world."

"Lucy, when you've been livin' here for years and 'ave actually been chasin' danger for years, its jus' an easy life. Heck, I'm having t' go to further parts of the dino world t' ge' a decent fight. This world stretches for more miles than I can walk in a couple of months. Maybe I'll go far enough t' find a place even better than the canyon you're in now. Maybe another weasel will find it." Buck said, laying back on the ground near the fire.

"Yeah Lucy. This place could be a paradise more than you can understand." Sasha said. Everyone nodded, so Lucy gave in. everyone fell into a comfortable silence, either staring into the fire or laying back and looking at the ice sky.

"I miss the stars." Buck said in a quiet voice.

"That's one of the downfalls of being down here. You can't see the stars, the moon, the sun, sunsets or sunrises. The beauty of it kind of gets left out." Steve said.  
"If you go t' the top of Devil Mountain, th' view from there is amazing. You can see everythin' from there." Buck said.

"You should show us one day." Sasha said.

"Well you guys literally live on the safest path to get there." Buck said. Devil Mountain was one of his favorite places. It had beautiful waterfalls, amazing views, a nice lake near the base, and the vegetation was fruit trees that Buck had only previously heard of, and never seen. He spent a lot of time there when he could. Getting there was the problem. If you came from the north, you had to either cross, or go around, the wastelands of most certain death. If you came from the south, you had to go through part of the Jungle of Misery. From the east, the Persecution Jungle. From the village, which was west to the mountain, was the only safe path.

"What places are there in this world?" Someone asked.

"Swamps, deserts, waterfalls, plains, cliffs, canyons, valleys, jungles, and lava falls…" Buck said,

"Lava falls?" Someone else asked.

"Yep. Giant cliffs alongside them too." Buck said.

"You said you haven't found all the parts of this world." Another stated.

"Nope. I haven't been on the other side of lava falls, nor have I managed to completely cross the Canine mountain range." Buck replied, closing his eye. Another silence fell. Soon, Buck felt himself starting to fall asleep. He heard a snore, and predicted he wasn't the only one. They were out in the open, but Buck was pretty sure nothing would try attack them, and also considering he was a light sleeper. Buck let his sleepiness take hold, and he soon was in a peaceful sleep, surrounded by all his friends for the first time in six years.

* * *

Well, there ya go guys. Sorry Grantourer, no fight between Buck and Regal...yet.I'm excited about the next chapter because it's got some cool stuff in it. I've also drawn a heap of pictures of Buck, Lucy, Regal, Jess, Sasha, Jeremy, and Adrian, but I've got to get my sister to help me put them on the internet. Seeya guys next time with chapter seven!


	7. Chapter 7 She deserves betterthan Regal

Lucy awoke before sunrise as per usual. She stood up slowly, because everyone was still asleep. They had all fallen asleep next to the fire last night, with no fear of getting attacked by anything. They figured that if Buck wasn't afraid, they had no reason to be either. Lucy suddenly noticed that he wasn't lying near the others. She looked in the direction of where he had been lying last night, and saw his tracks leading away. They were going towards Lucy's favorite rock, and she smiled as she saw his familiar shape on the rock in the distance. She walked diagonally behind him, so he didn't see her coming. She made sure the breeze was coming upwind and there was no sunlight to make a shadow. She trod quietly, making sure she made as little sound as possible. The calls of dinosaurs in the early morning were louder than her steps, and some birds that had lived in the dino world for generations were giving calls to each other. She was getting closer, and closer, and closer…

"I know you're there Lucy." Called Buck. Lucy cursed and stood up to her full height, then walked over to him.

"Well maybe I wasn't trying to scare you." Lucy said teasingly.

"Oh please, what else would you be doing?" Buck asked with a skeptical look. Lucy smiled and said,

"How did you know anyway?"

"That's a secret."

"You said you would teach me." she shot, sitting down next to him.

"Fine. You were doin' pretty well, but I saw you wake up and stand. I was lookin' over there all the time. You've gotta always check your surroundin's. Also, one of the bird calls means that there's a stranger around." Buck explained simply. Lucy pricked her ears, but there were so many calls she didn't know which one he was talking about. "Don't worry, that was advanced knowledge. I'll teach you about bird calls after you've learned the rest. They're pretty hard to learn, especially because I learned from experience." Buck said.

"When was the first time you learned a call?" Lucy asked. Buck thought for a moment before saying,

"It was about six months after I fell down 'ere. I was happily sittin' on a log next to a stream, sort of like I am now, and I heard one of the calls. I listened to it closely, and sure enough, a raptor came at me not thirty seconds later. I started listening for the call after that, and I soon figured it was one that meant predator. Differen' species have differen' calls for their meanings, but you learn them over ages of listening." Buck said.

"Can you tell me a bit now?" Lucy asked. She wanted to see if she could tell the difference, so she could use it, and maybe know enough to go on an adventure all on her own. Without Buck or Regal's help. She wanted to go to Devil Mountain, and all the other places Buck went to when he left. He sounds like he has a lot of fun out there, and she wanted to have just as much fun down here as anyone. There was so much to discover and learn, and she wanted to be part of that. Buck had to teach her.

"Sure." Buck said, then pricked his ears and listened for a few seconds, before he said, "Can you 'ear the one that is a long whistle." Lucy perked her own ears, and after a little while, picked out the one he was talking about.

"Yeah."

"That one means dawn is approachin'." Buck said with a smile. Lucy smiled as well, listening to the sweet sound.

"Do you know what it looks like?"

"Yeah, it's a small robin like thing, with green feathers, which are really bright in males, but the females have duller ones."  
"That's offensive."

"Truth hurts ain' it." Buck said with smirk. Lucy punched him in the shoulder, but he still didn't flinch.

"Any others?"

"That whistle/screeching/cawing is one of those parrots." Buck said, looking thoughtful. Lucy gasped.

"I've never seen those! I've only ever heard of them." Lucy said.

"Then I'll show ya." Buck said with a wink.  
He stood up, and offered her his hand. She took it gladly and let go as soon as she was up. She would still be careful, even though they were friends. He led her to the other side of the stream, and they walked for quite a while. Lucy had never been this far, and started noticing the difference in the jungle. It was less shrub, more actual jungle. There was taller trees and more vines, along with less sand and more dirt. Lucy liked the feeling of softer ground between her feet, and the mossy scent of the trees and dirt filled her nostrils and her mind settled into a kind of calm. She wondered if Buck felt this whenever he went through here. She didn't want to break the calming silence, so didn't ask. They continued to walk, the sun came up (above the ground), the birds' call changed, and the day turned warm. Buck said it was still winter down here, but it was warm. It didn't rain that much during winter, mostly during summer. Lucy's fur had started to molt, and it was soft, shiny and thin. She smiled as she felt it lighter on her.

"What ya smilin' at?" Buck asked grinning.

"Just that my pelt feels a lot lighter than it used to because I'm molting." Lucy said with a giggle.  
She thought it funny that she was telling Buck this. Usually the conversation about pelts was shared female to female. Lucy had never mentioned her own pelt to a male, but Regal had commented on it a couple of times. Lucy remembered with a start that Buck used to as well. Every day in fact. Whenever she used to see him, one of the first things he would say was 'such a shiny pelt.' She tried not to let the memory bother her. So what that Buck used to compliment her, more than Regal does now? Regal's got too many things on his mind. He doesn't have time to go and compliment her every day. _Well he has enough time to invite you to a party every night, _said that annoying little voice.  
Lucy shook her head to rid of the voice, called her conscious.

"You got somethin' in your ears?" Buck asked with a smug face.

"No, something in my head." Lucy said, matching his face.

"Ahhhh, the conscious mind. Yeah, I often have to shake my head of that too." Buck said, slinging his knife over his shoulder while he strolled. Lucy glanced sideways at him with a smile. He really was one of a kind. Buck stopped at a huge tree, which Lucy recognized as a fig tree. She realized there was five of them, all in a circle, and Lucy and Buck were standing on the outside of it. All the trees had to be over 40 foot height, with thick, wide branches, and trunks thicker than a pair of mammoths. Lucy couldn't see inside the circle, but she could hear the most wonderful sound. Tweets, twits, cries, caws, screeches and squawks, all coming from the five fig trees. Lucy saw that the leaves were almost shimmering with rainbow colours, as different species flew through the branches. Lucy stood in awe as she let the sound, sight and (surprisingly sweet) smell envelop her. Her eyes were wide with curiosity. Buck had the largest grin Lucy had ever seen, and was even slightly chuckling at her response.

"It's amazing!" was all Lucy could say.

"You ain' seen nothin' yet!" Buck said, waving for her to follow him. They both raced in until they were standing on the edge, only a few feet from the center. Lucy could see more and more of the different birds.

"Now, you've gotta run as fast as you can into the center." Buck said, glancing over his shoulder at Lucy, then back to the center. In the clearing in the center, birds of every size, shape and kind that Lucy could think of, were all feeding on the ground. Some were pecking at the ground, but others eating the figs from the trees on the ground.

"Will you be coming with me?" Lucy asked, suddenly scared that some of the birds might be predators.

"Of course. Don' worry, they ain' gonna eat ya." Buck said. "And I'm gonna be with ya every step o' the way." This comforted Lucy greatly, and she tensed and got ready to sprint. After a few minutes of building her courage and adrenaline, she sprang forward and right into the center of the clearing. The birds sprang up in surprise. They showered her with feathers, but surprisingly she didn't get struck with any droppings. She twirled and twisted while laughing as the bird calls filled her ears and feathers touched her fur with the softness of a breeze. She kept twirling until all the birds had managed to retreat to the branches of the fig trees. She stopped, and noticed that Buck wasn't anywhere to be seen. She looked around until she felt a tug around her waist, and all of a sudden she was flying through the branches of the trees. Bucks arm was around her, while his other was wrapped in a vine, and her arms were around him. They were both smiling and laughing as feathers whipped at their faces. Buck swung in one huge circle around the clearing, scaring some more birds into the air, which sent more feathers and leaves around them. Colors of the birds flashed before them. Buck swung them onto a thick branch, and they both landed neatly on it, without risk of falling due to the scale of the branches.

"Now, look up." Buck said with a certain gleam in his eyes. Lucy did as he said, and gasped at all the different breeds of finches, sparrows, parrots, larks, robins, stalks, and an array of all species, most that Lucy had never seen before. Some were even water birds that would originally be bear a lake or the sea. They stood on the branch, just watching the birds resume their roosts. Lucy noticed the non-existent amount of droppings. She asked Buck why, and he said,

"I dunno. They all do it somewhere else, when they go and search for water. They never do it 'ere though. It's strange, but maybe the trees are sacred or somethin'."

"That is strange, and maybe you're right. Maybe there's something about the trees."

"Or maybe they just are smart enough to not litter their home with their own droppings, considerin' they feed on the ground and in the trees. If they did their business 'ere, like any other colony of birds would do, the clearin' would be littered an' they wouldn' be able to eat the stuff on the ground."

"That sounds like it makes more sense to me." Lucy agreed. Buck nodded. They continued to watch and listen. Soon, midday came along. Lucy never realized how long it had taken to walk there.

"Alrigh', we betta head back." Buck said.

"OK. Oh, and Buck," he turned to her, "Thanks for showing me this." She said quietly.

"I wanted to show you as soon as I found it, but you were still above ground. I knew you would love it." Buck said with a smile. Always smiling he was. Lucy suddenly remembered something.

"There's someone back at the village who wants to meet you." She told Buck. He looked curious. He probably was thinking something along the lines of, _who would want to meet me. _If Lucy knew anything, it was Bucks low self-esteem. It's probably also the reason he's always doing dangerous stuff, not caring whether he got killed or not, because he would think nobody would care. Lucy frowned at the thought that he was still like that. Buck grabbed Lucy around the waist, and she did the same to him, and they swung from the branches and onto the ground outside the five trees. They then started walking back towards the village.

Buck was smiling the whole way back. He'd finally shown Lucy one of the great things about this world. He'd been waiting for Regal to go on a trip so that Buck could take Lucy without being hated by anyone. Although the others will probably tease him, knowing what he used to feel for Lucy. _You still feel like that idiot. _Buck kept back the urge to shake his head of the thought. He didn't. He _couldn't! _She loved Regal, and Buck couldn't interfere with that. It would mean his doom, and would probably ruin Lucy's life. Besides, Regal and Buck already had tension, so messing with his relationships with people would just snap the line. Still, Buck and Lucy were just friends, and he could teach her everything he knew. She could in turn teach him about herbs and give him some healing tips, just in case he got hurt on one of his adventures. They would be teaching each other about the others world. Buck couldn't wait. When the afternoon was drawing towards evening, they finally made it to the village. Lucy led Buck straight to where they kept the food. They were both starving, and ate heaps of food each.

"I'll help ya re-stock tomorrow." Buck said as he looked at how much they'd eaten.

"That would be great, thanks." Lucy said, cringing to think that Oma might get mad at her for eating that much food. Buck noticed, and said,

"Hey, I'll go get some food tonight and bring it 'ere before Oma will even notice." Lucy looked at him gratefully. He smiled at her, then said, "Um, you said there was someone who wanted to meet me?"

"Oh right. Com down here." Lucy led Buck down the tunnels and into one of the chambers. There was a teenage weasel boy with steel grey fur, sitting on the leaf bed, with a splint on his leg.

"This is Adrian, Jeremy's nephew." Lucy said to Buck, she then turned to Adrian (who had a look of wonder on his face) "Adrian, this is Buck."

"Hey, how're ya doin'?" Buck asked. Adrian just stared for a second, before he answered with,

"Good. Thanks."

"Wha' happened to ya leg?" Buck asked.

"Oh, when we feel down here it broke from impact."

"You're Jeremy's nephew?"

"Yeah. I've heard heaps about you, and I'm sorry if you don't like my uncle." Adrian said, lowering his yes and his voice. Buck put his fists on his hips and said,

"First of all, I ain' gonna judge you, just because I ain' exactly best buds with your uncle. Second, my opinion of Jeremy has nothing to do with you, which is basically the same as first of all. Third, I may not like your uncle, but I know your mother, and she's very nice to a lot o' weasels." What Buck said was true. Sara, Jeremy's elder sister, was more mature than Jeremy, because of the wide gap of age between the two siblings. Jeremy was only 21/22. Sara was about 35. Nobody really knew why their mother had had the two kits at such different times, but it never bothered anyone. Sara had always told her brother off or embarrassed him when he was mean or naughty, so on a couple of occasions had apologized to Buck and his friends for her little brother's behavior. She was quite good looking, a darker grey than Adrian, with purple colored eyes. Adrian looked happier with the response Buck had given. Buck assessed the boy, without moving or making it obvious. Apart from the broken leg, the kid was in really great shape. Muscly, and yet slim, he was obviously into his fitness. He had an over bite, black tipped ears and a fringe that went over his right eye. His eyes were a strange yellow color. His eyes showed intelligence, and if he was anything like his mother, was a fair and honorable player in life. Buck liked him already. Adrian asked Buck about the dino world, the dinos, places he'd been and adventures he'd had. In turn, Buck asked about Adrian's friends and what he did in his spare time. As Buck predicted, he liked sports and fitness, and hated not being able to move. Buck found that he really thought that Adrian was a great kid. He had a great sense of humor, which Buck probably liked the most. Adrian got really excited about dinos, but had never seen one considering he had been refined to the chamber. Buck mentioned that Jeremy was involved in dinosaurs, but he also didn't directly mention how. Adrian looked excited when Buck said that about Jeremy, and Buck regretted telling him. Adrian would be upset when he learned that Jeremy actually harmed dinos. When Jeremy wasn't looking or was busy hurting dinos, Buck decided he would teach Adrian about the dino world, and maybe he would become his apprentice when he was old enough to not be criticized by Jeremy or Regal. Lucy announced that Buck and she had to leave Adrian to go to sleep, because it was getting late. They left, and Adrian was happier he had met, and maybe become friends with, the legend everyone was talking about. Even his friends had been at the story telling camp last night, and had told about it. Adrian had felt left out, but now he didn't. He hadn't only heard more about the stories, but had told Buck about his own life. Adrian fell asleep smiling. Buck walked with Lucy, and told her he would go get the food he promised her. He grabbed his knife and left, heading towards the stream fist. There was never a shortage of food in about a fifty km radios around the canyon. It wasn't too close to devil mountain to be high altitude, and not as close to the desert where it was too hot, not close to the wastelands, nor anywhere near the howling cliffs or the swamp with the acrid plants. It was prosperous with life, and Buck didn't like it. It just wasn't dangerous enough for himself, and the raptors nor Rudy were interested in it either. He was glad though that his friends were in the safe area. There was just too many weasels to be living on their own in a place like the wastelands, so it was great that all the weasels were living and cooperating in on safe place. Buck imagined that like himself, others will be tempted to other places than the village. He suspected that Adrian would be one of these. The kid had way too much energy to be cooped up in that small canyon, and was also way too curious to not learn anything about the world he was living in. Buck smiled, thinking Adrian was a lot like Buck himself when he was a teenager. Buck managed to find an array of different fruit trees, and collected as much as he could, and took it back to the healing burrow. He did several other trips, and by the time he was finished, late into the night, the storage chamber was almost overfull with exotic fruits, vegetables and legumes. Lucy thanked him for it over and over again. Buck told her off every time she did it, and eventually said that if she didn't stop he would eat all the food again. She laughed, but got the message. Buck was extremely tired by the time he was done, so Lucy showed him to the chamber he stayed in last time. Buck flopped onto the bed, made sure his knife was in his hand before he fell asleep gladly.

Lucy went back to the storeroom where they kept all the healing herbs. In there was Jess and Sasha.

"What are you guys doing in here? I thought you were asleep." Lucy said, surprised to find them there.

"We were waiting for you." Jess said.

"Did you have fun today?" Sasha asked, with a certain look in her eye. Lucy didn't notice this.

"Yeah, it was great! Buck took me to these five fig trees all in a circle and there's all these birds and…" she noticed the way her friends were looking at her, paws on their hips and their eyebrows raised. She sighed and said, "What? I can't have fun anymore without ou guys looking at me like that?"

"We're just weighing things up." Jess said, lifting her paw to examine her claws.

"Well he is smarter," Sasha said,

"And funnier," Jess replied,

"Nicer,"

"Cooler,"

"Just better." They said in unison. Lucy looked from one to the other, trying to see what they meant. She laid her ears back when she realized what.

"No. no, no, no, no…N…O." Lucy said, shaking her head.

"You loved him for a long time Lucy. He can't suddenly count for nothing." Sasha said.

"He doesn't count for nothing, but he just isn't that guy anymore."

"I'll say. He's gotten even more awesome since we were kids, and I never thought that was possible when it came to Buck." Jess said.

"But I love Regal now guys."

"Love. A strong word, and I'm not sure you're using it in the right way here." Sasha said to Lucy, who was fast growing irritated.

"whatever." Said both her friends, and they walked out, leaving Lucy hanging with annoying thoughts. She tried to push it to the back of her mind. The only thing for it was to go to sleep, and pretend it had never happened. She made sure everything was in order before she resorted to her chamber, laying on her bed. She didn't manage to go to sleep until about an hour later.

Four days later, Buck was still in the village, but not for long. Regal was coming back. Buck could see the hunters being led by Regal through the brush, back towards the village. Buck noticed immediately that there was less of them. Regal would originally go with at least twenty or so weasels, but there looked about seventeen. Buck was good at judging amounts. Later, Buck heard what he thought. A mini-raptor that they had been trying to catch had managed to accidentally kill three of the weasels, one of them Regal's old friend, Zac. The ones that had lived were weak, hungry and dirty. Buck held back giggles whenever he saw them pass. When Jessica noticed this, she kicked him, and hissed,

"Don't laugh. They had a hard time." Buck rolled his eyes and mumbled,

"Pff. Tourists." Then went back to carving a star out of a small piece of wood. He had nothing better to do, and the day was a little humid and warm, the perfect day for lounging. He was lying back against a tree, the shade covering him and the sounds of weasels laughing and talking next to the stream. Trevor came and sat next to him.

"Sup man." He said,

"No' much, you?"

"Trying not to laugh at Regal's hunters." Trevor whispered.

"Same. Did they even catch anythin'?" Buck asked.

"Three, to make up for the weasels they lost."

"That's the saddest part. Weasels 'ave to die because of Regal's hobby."

"It's not even a decent hobby."

"Far from it." the two friends sat in silence. Trevor said after a while,

"I guess you'll be leaving soon then."

"Yep. Can't stay much when Regal's 'round. The sigh' of him jus' makes me twitchy." Buck hissed. Trevor smiled, amused at his friends anger. Buck never was one to be angry easily. It took a lot for him to snap, and even then, he hated yelling, or being yelled at. Not just because his ears were sensitive, but because he found no point in it. Yelling your head off didn't fix anything. Buck resumed his carvings. He finished the star soon, then stood and threw it into the bush behind him.

"What'd ya do that for?" Trevor said.

"I finished it." Buck said, sitting back down.

"So? It was cool. You could've given it to Lucy or something."

"Nah. Regal would have my head for that."

"Since when did you care what Regal thought?"

"It ain' wha' he thinks, its wha' he'll do." Buck replied, annoyed. "Besides, it would be awkward t' do that an' would probs freak Lucy out."

"Point taken." Trevor said, resting his case.

"So how're you an' Jess goin' anyway?"

"Great! I take her out all the time, and we hang all the time. And she's a great kisser…"

"I don' need to know the details! Jeez."

"Sorry. Once I start I can't stop talking about her."

"I can see that!" Buck said, laughing. Trevor smiled. They continued to talk, and laugh while the day went on. When it came late afternoon, Buck and Trevor went different ways. Buck headed to the other side of the stream, and sat in the tree he had first camped in before he had went to the village. He called it his camp tree. He sat there for a while, just sharpening his knife. He heard voices when he was about to fall asleep in the late evening. It would still be about two hours before the world was completely dark. He stayed still, but peeped over the edge of the branch he was sitting on. A blood-red weasel and a dirt brown one were walking through the shrub, talking in hurried, hushed voices. Regal and Jeremy.

"…and as soon as Adrian's better, we'll start teaching him about hunting the dinos." That was Regal.

"Adrian mentioned that Lucy introduced him to Buck. That set my teeth on edge." Jeremy growled, annoyed.

"Yeah, I hate the guy. Everyone thinks he's so smart and brave and bla, bla, bla. God, I would kill him easy, just like his brother." Bucks ears folded back I anger. How dare him!? Buck hadn't even one anything wrong. Regal was the jerk! Buck held himself still, wanting to hear more. Regal and Jeremy sat down at the base of the tree Buck was sitting in, a strike of luck. Buck could pick up every word.

"Yeah, Stella says that some of the girls that used to have a crush on him still do." Jeremy said. Stella was his girlfriend. Jeremy may have been mean to Buck and his friends, but when it came to relationships, the guy was seriously fair. He never messed around, and would never use a girl. Frankly, he just had courtesy. Buck didn't dislike Jeremy nearly as much as he hated Regal. Regal was bloodthirsty, evil, and using. Jeremy was faithful, fair and quite smart…Just friends with the wrong guy. Buck hoped that Jeremy would one day figure the evil of Regal, because now that Buck thought about it, Jeremy wasn't a bad guy. Buck continued listening.

"I heard that too. The worst thing is, Buck and Lucy were 'in love' when we were younger, so that means Bucks competition for Lucy."

"Just tell the guy to stay away from her."

"I will, next time I see him, then I'll punch him in the face." Regal said, laughing.

"How 'bout you say it right now." Buck said, swinging down to the ground. He landed square in front of the two men, who stood up straight away.

"I will. You stay away from Lucy or I'll make your life hell." Regal hissed.

"You know, Oma was right. Lucy is too good for you." Buck said, "Oh, and weren't you goin' to try hit me?" he didn't have to wait long for the response. A red fist came straight towards his face, which he ducked out of the way easily, while avoiding a kick at the same time. With his knife in hand, Buck back flipped backwards towards the stream. He ducked and dodged from Regal, across the stream, and towards the village. He was always giving Regal the impression he was getting close, before buck pulled another stint to get out of the way. When they reached the edge of the canyon, some weasels stopped below and saw Buck and Regal on the rim.

"Come on Buck. Are you afraid to throw a punch?" Regal teased, before he tried to kick Buck in the side, who again avoided it. Regal got closer and closer, before Buck struck out his foot, and Regal stumbled over it. There was a few breathtaking moments, with Regal waving his arms to try and balance. Gravity took over. He went sliding and tumbling down the side of the canyon. The fall wasn't enough to harm him too seriously, unless he landed on his head. Buck heard the slight thud as Regal hit the ground. Buck watched anxiously, and waited for regal to move. He gave a sigh of relief when he saw Regal stumble to his feet. Buck then took a few steps back from the edge, then ran and leaped over the side. He ran almost vertical down the side. Gravity was pulling him down, but he was using his weight in a way that stopped him from stumbling. He'd done this before a couple of times, so knew the tricks. After running the first nine meters, with only one left, he leaped, did a front flip and landed kneeling to the ground, his knife in his balled fist on the ground. He raised his head, and saw that Regal was only a few feet away, standing and staring at Buck with a mixture of hatred and surprise. Buck stood his full height, glaring at Regal with distaste. He walked over, noticing other weasels were gathering around to watch. Jess, Trevor, and even Lucy were among these. Buck also noticed how Regal was tattered and tired. The guy had been trying to hit Buck over and over, using his energy, then had fallen off the side of a ten meter canyon, so was probably slightly injured. Even if he was, he tried to hide it. When Buck was close to regal, the red weasel hissed,

"I hate you, and I won't ever hesitate to get the chance to hurt you."

"Regal!" Lucy gasped. Buck held up his paw to her and said,

"Let him say wha' 'e want's. Go on Regal, say it."

"You turn up and all of a sudden think you can do whatever you want, but you're not a king. You're not even part of the village. You're a lunatic, and you don't belong here."

"You're right. Never have, still don't, never will." Buck said with a shrug. Regal growled and took a swing at Buck again, who dodged, but this time swung back, and hit Regal square in the chest. Regal stumbled back, surprised, but snapped back quickly. He tried going for Bucks stomach, but Buck stepped aside and kicked Regal aside, then waited for Regal to stand back up again.

"Buck! Regal! Stop it!" Lucy said, trying to stand between them, but Regal gently moved her out the way. _He's lucky he didn't shove her out the way, _Buck thought, _otherwise I would've used my knife in this fight. _Lucy got the message, and stepped back. Buck decided to use a trick he'd thought up and practiced. When Regal was ready, Buck stepped forward and pretended to aim for Regal's head, and Regal put his arms up to block it. Buck kicked out as hard as he could for Regal's stomach. He hit him hard, like really hard. Regal recoiled to his knees, then laid on the ground coughing and gasping. Buck stood up straight, then said loud and clear,

"You can't mess with me Regal. Living in this world has given me more strength than you bargained for. I may no' belong 'ere, but I can come an' go as I please and do whatever I wan', because I can. I'm not being a problem, and I haven' _started any fights_." He said the last bit with an emphasized tone. "So why should I be getting' hit at? Well, I shouldn't. Don't start fight's you can't finish Regal." Buck held his knife and headed to the exit of the canyon. Regal was barely back for a day and Buck and Regal had already had a fight.

"Buck wait!" Someone called. Buck turned to find Jess running towards him.

"What is i'?" Buck asked.

"I just wanted to say…nice one." Jess said, and they both smiled and slapped paws.

"He had it comin'. Plus, he started it." Buck said with a smile.

"You leaving now?" Jess asked, sounding a bit sad.

"Yep. Can't stay, gotta go. Lucy's probably mad at me, so I've got no place t' crash. Also, I wanna get out of 'ere. It's not as fun when Regal's around, an' I can find better things to do. I'll head to devil mountain, ride a butterfly or two, you know. I'll Seeya when I ge' back."

"Ok, Seeya." Buck turned away and strolled out of the village without a care in the world, not even bothered by the fact that Regal was burning a hole in his back with his eyes, with Lucy looking from one to another with the look of amazement. She deserves so much better than Regal.


	8. Chapter 8 Catchup

Lucy would never cease to be amazed by Buck. One minute he seems fine, the next he's beating Regal easily in a fight. Regal himself was bruised and tired, and needed some rest. Lucy led him back to his own burrow, and got him into his bed, with Sasha following.

"Thanks Lucy." Regal said when he got there.

"What on earth started the fight anyway?" Lucy asked.

"He called me a jerk, then tried to hit me. He went crazy Lucy, trying to hit, kick and bite me. It was like he had rabies. He was yelling and screaming about Jai being dead because of me. I truly was sorry for doing that Lucy." Regal said, looking up at her, his eyes almost shining with sadness. Lucy smiled down at him with pity, then said,

"It's alright. Get some rest and I'll be back later."

"Alright. Thanks." Lucy left with Sasha. As soon as they were out of the burrow, Sasha rounded on Lucy and said,

"That was all crap. Buck would never do that."

"I know. Regal is many things, but fortunately a good liar is not one of them. I have a feeling Regal started it."

"You're right." A voice came. Dwain appeared with a grim expression.

"We are?" both the girls said at the same time.

"Yep. I heard Buck and Regal talking near the tree next to the stream, and I thought it would be funny to go see what they were talking about. When I got there Regal threw the first attempt at a punch. Buck didn't do anything until he tripped Regal over the edge of the canyon. Regal started it." Dwain clarified it. Lucy looked a little upset. She didn't like that her boyfriend and best friend hated each other that much, and it disturbed her further that Regal would do that. Lucy thanked Dwain then ran towards the stream, with Sasha right behind. They reached there soon enough, and unsurprisingly Buck was there, sitting on Lucy's favorite rock, eating a fish.

"I'll stay here. He'll probably just want to talk to you." Sasha said, and sat at the base of a nearby tree. Lucy nodded, and left her. She walked slowly over to where Buck sat. She saw him throw the carcass of the fish he'd eaten into the river. She didn't bother trying to sneak up on him. He probably was expecting her, and had probably heard Sasha and Lucy talk. When she reached where he was hunched over his knees on the rock, she heard Buck give a sigh and say,

"I'm really sorry Lucy. I thought I could keep my head around him, but he pressed the right buttons for me to go off."

"It's alright."

"Um, no it's not, actually. I should have ignored him and just left, instead of tripping him over the edge of a cliff."

"Well, he started it."

"You're sure of tha' are ya?" Buck said, turning to look at her.

"Dwain saw everything." That's all Lucy needed to say for Buck to turn back and stare at the stream. Lucy sat next to him and said,

"I'm the one who's sorry."

"For wha'?!" Buck yelled, astonished and turned to her.

"Not keeping him under control."

"He's not yer kid, Lucy. He's an adul', an' he can take care of himself, an' shoulda learn' a long time ago t' pick his fights a bit more carefully." Buck said with a little growl behind the words. Lucy looked at him with a mixture of feelings. She was then struck with a thought and an idea that might just work.

"You two just have to make a deal." She said to Buck as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"A deal? What kind of deal?"

"He doesn't try to hit you, and you don't try or hit him back. To get used to each there, or ignore each other completely. Either way, you've got to do something, otherwise you're going to be fighting him every time you return to the village."

"Dwain obviously didn't tell you everything." Buck said in a low voice.

"What did he miss out?"

"The fact that the fight was mainly about you." He said. Lucy stopped dead. About her? What did he mean?

"How was it about me?"

"He thinks that I'm trying to win you over, an' I told him you deserve better than him," between this, Buck gave a fake cough, and Lucy could make out the words, 'which is, cough, true'. "Then he tried t' hi' me, and I led a chase t' the edge of the canyon, an' tripped him over it." Buck said pretending Lucy wasn't looking at him with recognition of what he'd said between the coughing.

"That's why you two have to make this deal, or pact, or whatever. So that every time you turn up you're not at each others throats." Lucy said.

"Well, I'll give i' a shot, but I can' say he'll do the same."

"Trust me. If he knows what's good for him, he'll agree to it." Lucy said with an evil smile. Buck smiled back at her. Lucy's smile faded as she realized something. "You're leaving again, aren't you?"

"Yep. I'll Seeya when I come back." Buck said, standing from the rock and strolling into the stream.

"Promise?" Lucy asked. Buck stopped and turned long enough for him to say,

"Promise." Buck turned again and went the rest of the way across the stream. With his knife in hand, he climbed his tree on the other side of the stream. Lucy squinted to try and see where he had gone in the tree. Not ten seconds later, did she see his form swing down from the tree on a vine, and go from tree to tree until Lucy could no longer see him. Lucy got up from her rock, and walked back to where Sasha was.

"So? I couldn't hear anything, so what did he say to you?"

"I'm making Buck and Regal make a deal. They can't hurt each other if they both agree to it. Regal will agree to it, as much as Buck doubts it." Lucy looked at her friend, who had the same skeptical look Buck had when Lucy said Regal would agree. Lucy scowled and said, "He'll agree because he knows what Buck said to him is true. Buck _has_ gotten stronger, strangely large and has extreme fighting skills. If Regal starts another fight, he'll be dust, and he knows it. Frankly, Buck does as well. That weasel really knows his limits."

"Yeah, the guys as strong as an ox, and the way he dodges attacks is almost unnatural." Sasha said. Lucy nodded in agreement. The two friends walked back towards the village, talking about the incident and ways to stop it from happening apart from the deal to be made. Sasha was trying as hard as she could to stop herself laughing. She thought the whole fight between Buck and Regal was hilarious. One, because she had seen it coming, (Frankly she thought everyone had) and two, because Regal got what he deserved. The guy was a complete jerk. Clearly Buck thought the same as her.

Buck swung through the trees until the amount of vines lessened. He then resorted to a walk, humming to himself as he went. He still didn't believe that he could sing anymore, his voice scared away with the death of his brother. Buck missed the feeling of his voice rushing through his throat, the sound engulfing his mind, and his heart racing as he sung more and more. He used to have the most amazing voice, his brothers only coming close to the certain melody's that Buck used to be able to hit easily. Often he'd made his friends happier, dancing or laughing on a camp out, when he sung. But now he couldn't do it. Buck frowned at that, but continued humming nonetheless. Every step heading towards the Devil Mountain. He couldn't wait to get there. If he was lucky, the rains would come early and the east side of the mountain would be muddy and cool to slide down. He did it every summer, and he always got covered in mud. He wished that Lucy could come with him, but he didn't think that it would be a great time… He wanted to show her all the things that this world to offer. The wonderful, amazing, dangerous and terrible things that filled and lived in this world. Buck was finding new things all the time in it, and wanted to go further and higher, discovering all that he could. Next time he went back to the village, he would ask Oma to teach him about all the plants that could be used for food and healing. He would put on some weight too, then would journey further past lava falls, or maybe even head over the canine mountains…that was if he could get past there. Buck ad never gotten through the canine mountains. He'd been chased out several times by the cave crawlers that lived there. Cave crawlers. They were just a giant lizard, but with poisonous saliva, and had a fierce attitude. One of the packs was not against Buck. He'd helped the pack leader out of trouble a couple of times, so the leader let Buck through his territory. They lived at the south side of the Canine Mountain Range, and Buck had to head north to get all the way through. The mountains in the range were too tall for a moth to go over, and pterodactyls were only useful for a little time before they kicked you off. Towards the north side of the range, more packs of cave crawlers lived there, and they were less friendly. Because of them, Buck had never made it to the other side of the range, discovering what was beyond the high mountains. Buck thought about it. Heading to lava falls was most certainly easier and safer, but he didn't know what he would find on the other side. Canine mountain range meant most certain injury, probability of death, but he guessed there would be a paradise on the other side, either that or death awaited him…alright, Canine Mountain Range it was. Buck smiled at the thought. But this time, he would just go to the Devil Mountain. The great food, amazing water and dangerous dinos would put him in a better mood. Buck traveled for about three days, heading in the direction of the shadow of the mountain. Not much happened on the way there, except Buck stealing some eggs for breakfast, and got caught doing it by the mother. Bad move. It had turned out to end in a three hour detour of running away, but oh well. It was fun while it lasted. He reached the base of the mountain without having to think about it, for he'd travelled to the mountain hundreds of times before. The day was annoyingly cold, with no promise of heat on the way. Buck headed straight to the mountain, knowing there was a cave higher up. It would be hopefully warmer up there. He looked up the slope, which wasn't steep until you went about halfway up. This allowed vegetation to grow on the sides. Trees, shrubs and grass went up the slope. Buck went over to the lake that got fed by a river, and had a swim in the warm water, ate some fish and sharpened his knife, before heading up to the cave. It was almost night when Buck reached the cave, and he was tired. He curled up with his knife and fell sleep.

The next morning Buck woke up with the sounds of birdsong coming from outside the cave. He stretched, grabbed his knife, and then went out to see the familiar sight. Stepping into the light, he had to block his eye for a second for them to adjust. When they had, he sighed with contempt at the usual sight. A flock of Pterodactyls flew past, with some birds twittering in the trees nearby. A couple of species of herbivores grazed on the vegetation, and a bunch of mini-raptors ran past, not giving Buck a glance. Buck strolled out of the cave with his knife slung over his shoulder. Maybe he would be lazy today. No, that would allow thought, and thought would mean Regal, and that meant bad. Even worse, Lucy. He had to try his absolute best to not think about Lucy. She was probably hiding the fact that she was mad at him. Well, if she was, it was the first time she'd been able to hide something from Buck. His single blue eye could spot anything about someone. So, today, Buck had to do as much as he could to keep himself busy, the try and tire himself out so he goes to sleep faster and not think too much. Buck made for the river and lake again. Like he predicted, he was stopped by a troodon. They were everywhere here, and Buck swore they had something against small fluffy things. This one wasn't too large, but it seemed angry. _Maybe it's the way mammals smell or something, _Buck thought. The troodon tried snapping at him, but he easily avoided it. It tried again, and he sidestepped it. He exaggerated a yawn and said,

"You're seriously boring. Do somethin' scary or rather." The troodon must have understood him, because it turned so quick he didn't understand what it was doing until it was too late. The tail smacked into his stomach and he went flying sideways. "That's better!" Buck cried as he stood again. The troodon leaped, but Buck tumble rolled out of the way. Gripping his knife hard, he tried climbing a tree. The troodon jumped high enough to snatch him down again. Buck hit the ground hard, so had trouble breathing. Gasping, he felt the jaws of the troodon go around his middle.  
"Na ah. It ain' gonna be tha' easy." Buck whispered, and rammed his knife into the troodon's bottom jaw. The troodon let go of him with shriek. Buck rolled when he hit the ground, and jumped to the tree again. This time he managed to get up in time. The troodon tried leaping and jumping to try catch him, but he leaned on the trunk of the tree while standing on a high branch, watching it try. He sneered and laughed at the troodon whenever it fell over. It eventually gave up, and stalked off, grumbling and hissing in annoyance. Buck swung down from the tree and continued to the lake.

Levi awoke sweating and panting. He'd had the nightmare again. The one where he had killed Buck's parents. Their screams still rung in his mind. He'd been starving that day, and they had been the first food he'd scented. He'd never felt guilty about eating. It was the way of life, but this was different. Buck had _helped him! _The weasel knew that Levi had killed his parents, but helped him anyway. Levi felt guilty every day about it, but knew that Buck had probably forgotten about it. Levi stretched and yawned, trying to forget about it. He had better things to think about. Being a lone saber wasn't all that bad, but he missed the company of others of his own kind. Well, that was until he met Iesha. She was the leader of a female band of sabers. There was about five of them. Levi had been hunting a gazelle, when he saw the female sabers nearby, stalking the same gazelle. He'd leaped first, and managed to get it.

"Hey, that was ours." A blond one had said.

"Too bad. Mine now." Levi had simply replied, sneering.

"Well, it's our now." Another voice said, and Levi had turned to find a stocky female, almost as black as night.

"How so?" Levi had asked. He knew what was coming next. As he predicted, the stocky one leaped at him. He sidestepped it easily, but the blond one got his shoulder with a mean cut. A third female jumped out and joined in, this time she was slender and grey in color. She tried getting his neck but Levi kicked her away, and got the stocky one off his leg where she had latched on with her teeth. A forth female prowled out, small and also dark in color. Four females. Levi was slashing his claws back and forth, keeping them back. Occasionally one managed to scratch or bite him when his back was turned. He stood over the prey he'd caught, keeping well away from them. They decided to get him all together. They all leaped at the same time, and he had been pinned to the ground easily. Just before Blondie gave him the final bite, a strong called out, "Stop!" The females turned to look at their leader questioningly. She stepped out, and Levi couldn't help but stare. Tan fur, with one blue eye and one brown. She had one white paw, and a deep cut in her ear. She walked like she was on clouds, as light as a feather and not making a sound. It was more like gliding than anything.

"Get off him." She commanded. They did as they were told. Levi leaped up and put a protective paw on his prey. "Don't worry. I don't think it's fair for you to catch a meal, then have _four _other sabers take you on to steal it from you. You fought well. Take your food and go." God, that voice. Levi could have listened to it all day. Deep, but smooth and easily controlled. But he picked up the gazelle in his mouth, and dragged it quickly away. The other females watched in amazement. That had been the day he'd first seen a saber give mercy to another creature they could have killed. Blondie was most upset. Clearly he'd pissed her off. Levi remembered that day with satisfaction as he walked to the pond to get a drink. He'd seen her a couple of times since that day, and she'd asked why he was alone. He'd told her his story, and she seemed impressed. One day he'd asked her about her life story, but she simply turned away with a growl and said,

"It's a long one."  
Levi drank his fill at the pond, then padded down the path to where he knew there was a herd of gazelle. The cold snow made his paws tingle, and they soon were soaking wet. He dropped into a low crouch when he saw the first gazelle. He silently crept along on his belly, his claws going in and out in anticipation. Before he leaped, he saw her. She wasn't too far away, her odd colored eyes locked on the deer. Levi smiled maliciously. This was his chance to have some fun. He forgot about the gazelle and started sneaking in her direction, curving in his path to come up behind her. She was so stuck on the gazelle she didn't see him. When he was barely a meter behind her, he leaped. It was too late for her to make a move, and Levi pinned Iesha to the ground. The gazelle startled and ran off.

"Got ya then didn't I?" Levi asked. Iesha kicked his feet out from underneath him, then jumped up and pinned him.

"Don't sneak up on me like that." She said, snarling.

"Ok." Levi used all his weight to roll out from underneath her feet. She tried getting him again, but Levi had already leaped and got out of the way. She constantly tried getting at him, or tried tricking him, but he kept dodging or keeping well away from her. Then, he saw an opening where he could get her. He sprung immediately and they both fell, tumbling in a ball of fur, teeth and claws. They rolled down the slope and ended up hitting a rock and bursting apart from each other. Levi landed heavily up against a tree, his back aching in pain. He stood and looked around for Iesha. She was starting to limp off, her head low and slight growling coming from her throat.

"Wait Iesha." Levi said, running to her side.

"Leave me alone."

"Why?"

"I'm hurt because of you!" she snapped and stopped walking, looking at him angrily.

"That's what happens when you play fight."

"Play fights are for cubs."

"Then I guess we're both cubs. No, seriously. Why are you so mad at me?" Levi asked. It had been the first fight, or even play fight, that he'd had for ages, and he didn't want a good component to storm off angrily. Iesha sighed and dropped her head.

"Because you're the first saber, male or female, that's been able to give a decent fight. Females are too quick, but not strong enough, and males take it easy on me because I'm a female. You're the first not to have done that, and I actually want to thank you." She said.

"So you're mad at me and storming off because I'm cooler to hang around with than anyone else. That makes total sense." Levi said, rolling his eyes. Iesha smiled, and that's when Levi's heart sung. He'd never seen her smile, and it made her beautiful.

"Fine. You're cooler to hang around than any other of my friends, but I guess I was ashamed of myself for having a decent injury."

"Injury is natural. It shows you're not dead." Levi said. Iesha started walking off again, and Levi followed.

"I'm just going back to the others. I'm tired from the fight." Iesha said.

"Where will you be tomorrow?"

"Probably in my cave, tending to my leg."

"Damn. I was hoping you'd be out and about." Here, he gave her a smile. Her lips almost managed it, but it fell again. As they walked, Levi tried harder and harder to get her to smile. It worked on many occasions. As her cave into view, and her four friends, he even managed to make her laugh! Levi felt like he could fly. Her laugh was better than her smile, if that was even possible. When they finally reached the cave, Levi hesitated to leave, but then Blondie came out and glared at them both.

"Well, I better go." Iesha said.

"Alright. Seeya."

"Seeya." She went inside, but blonde continued to glare at Levi. He ignored her, and turned to leave, but he heard the paw steps not long after, and quickly leaped sideways. Blonde landed where he had been a fraction of a second before. She whirled round and glared at him again.

"Why did you try to attack me?"

"I was trying to pin you so I could question you."

"So why don't you just come up and ask me the question like anyone else would."

"Fine." She spat. "How did you get her to laugh?" _What? That's all she wanted to ask, and she was willing to pin me to the ground for that? _

"I told her a funny story. Full stop. Why is that so important to you?" Levi asked. Why would making Iesha laugh freak blonde out so much. Blonde dropped her head and looked at her paws, retracting and opening her claws. She finally looked up and said quietly,

"Because she hasn't laughed for...what? Years?" Levi's eyes widened.

"Years? Why hasn't she laughed for so long?"

"All I can tell you is that something really bad happened to her. If you want to find out the rest, you'll have to ask Iesha." With that, Blonde ran back to their cave. Levi went back to his own cave, which was about a mile away. He laid there that night, trying to make sense of things. He fell asleep, still confused and determined to find out what Blonde meant.

Buck stretched the sleep out of his muscles. He'd been at Devil Mountain for a week, jumping off the waterfall, battling a bunch of dinosaurs, and avoiding thoughts altogether. After he got breakfast, and swam in the lake, he decided it was probably time to head back to the village. He'd have to make that deal with Regal whether he liked it or not. He would get exhausted beating Regal in fights all the time, and frankly would get bored too. He made his way back slowly, not in a rush to go back. It took him five days, instead of three, before he saw the familiar stream. It was midday, and it was getting hotter. Spring was coming, and then the summer rains would follow. No one was at the stream, so he swum around a bit, caught some fish, then laid in the sunlight that filtered through the roof of the world. The heat made him drowsy, and he soon started thinking. Thinking, like, actual thoughts that weren't crazy or weird. He thought about Lucy. Buck was still confused at how she could love Regal. The guy was just as much of a jerk as he'd been in the past, no matter what Lucy said. Oma was right. Lucy. The name made Buck's heart beat faster. It had been so easy to make her laugh in the past, but she was a bit more serious now. She'd grown up too fast. Buck needed to get her back into the childish ways, for growing up is optional. As soon as Regal went on another hunting mission, Buck would take her to…where? All the good places were really far away, and took at least two days to get there on foot…on foot. Wait, why did he have to take her anywhere on foot? He knew how to wrangle a pterodactyl, or even a raptor would do fine. Yeah, that would do. He'd take her somewhere on a dino. She was still more beautiful than anything that ever existed. Her fur was still as shiny and soft as a young kits, her smile was still the same, and her eyes…Buck couldn't even describe how much he'd missed those eyes. Emeralds that held memories and emotions Buck sometimes wanted to forget…  
"Buck?" Buck lifted his head and saw Dwain standing there, water quickly rushing off his oily fur. He smiled at Buck, who smiled back. "I didn't expect to see you around here for at least another week." Dwain said, sitting down next to Buck.

"I can' avoid th' deal forever, however much I'd like t'." Buck said, sitting up from his lying position. Dwain nodded.

"I suppose your waiting for Lucy?"

"Yeah. I ain' goin' anywhere near th' village withou' her." Buck answered. "So what's been happenin' since I was gone?" He asked, wanting to change subject away from Lucy.

"Not much. You won't want to hear about more dinos being caught." Dwain said, ad Buck grimaced at the thought. "Adrian wasn't very happy when he heard about the fight. Jeremy and Regal are trying to train him into being one of them. Dino killer, big boy, jackass, you know, all those things. His legs healed, so he can walk now."

"Has i' really been a month and a 'alf since you guys fell down 'ere?"

"Yep. Time fly's when you're having fun." Dwain said.

"Well, tha' means your entire life's goin' t' fly, because it's fun 24/7 down 'ere." Buck said.

"Oh yeah, what did you do this time on your great adventure."

"Uh, uh. No' until th' rest o' the gang shows up. You know th' drill. Campfire, gossip, news, then the story, then sleep."

"Are you going to stay round here for longer this time."

"I migh', but I'll be sleepin' in tha' tree," Buck indicated to the one he slept in the first time he came here, "Instead of in th' village."

"I can't wait to hear the story."

"It's not too excitin' this time. I didn' run int' Rudy, bu there was this one troodon tha' wouldn' leave me alone!"


	9. Chapter 9 Blood red

Guys, I am so sorry about the last chapter being released so late. I got a complete writers block. I literally sat in front of my laptop with this running through my brain. _Bzzzzzzzzzzzzz. _Yeah, not good. I also have read over what I've written so far. How can you guys like this stuff!? I've written some stuff so damn badly I want to stab it. I'll try and improve it. Plus, I have not been able to post for at least two weeks, because I was on holiday (London, Croatia, turkey, and harry potter world…squeal!) so couldn't write, but got some cool ideas over there. I got my motivation back from the writer's block and am now gonna start getting some action up. Here it is guys.

* * *

"Plus, the guy is sooooo ugly!"

"Wha'!?"

"Oh. You mean Buck? Oh he's hideous!"

"I am no'!"

"And his feet smell!"

"That's it! Get here!" The children laughed as they watched Buck roll, duck and bash in the morning light.

"He's strangling his own foot." Regal said in annoyance to Lucy, as he watched Buck.

"He's just entertaining them." Lucy said. It had been a week since Buck had come back. Buck and Regal had both agreed to the deal. However reluctantly. Buck had forgotten the fight easily, but Regal still had a grudge.

"Look at him! He's a nutcase!" Regal whispered. Lucy laughed as Buck pretended to fall unconscious after his foot got a good shot to the head. Regal grimaced.

"Oh loosen up will you?" Lucy said to him, elbowing his arm in the process. "He's just giving them something to laugh at."

"Whatever. I think I'll go on a hunting trip. Might take more than a week." Lucy turned with a concerned expression. She still got scared when he left. Last time, they'd lost a couple of weasels.

"Don't worry, I won't be going too far. We'll just stay out there and not move until we've caught some more raptors."

"Haven't you got enough?"

"Nah. I'm getting one for each of the grown weasels in the village. Plus, I'm taking Adrian with us this time, to teach him some stuff."

"Ok." Lucy was still unsure, but didn't argue. More loud laughter distracted them, and they looked over at the dozen kits that had been watching Buck. They were all attempting to tackle him. He slipped out of reach before running, but slow enough just for the kits to think they were catching up with him. They laughed and squealed as he vanished behind some brush, then came out the other side with a goofy look on his face. Trevor appeared carrying a bag made of closely woven reads, and inside smelled like some fruit. Buck was paying so little attention he had no time to react to Trevor sticking his foot out. Buck flew with a cry and face planted in the dirt. Trevor laughed and continued on to his burrow. Regal sneered at Buck as the kits caught up with him and started jumping on him, along with jabbing and pulling his fur and tail.

"Ouch. Oh, ow! Hey, tha' hur'!" Buck said, rolling and curling up as the children tormented him.

"I think I might leave today." Regal grumbled, and started walking off. Lucy watched him go, but didn't follow.

"Lucy, a little help would be grea'!" Buck called. Lucy laughed, and walked over to where the kits had almost completely hidden Buck from sight, sitting on top of him.

"Alright, clear out. He's tired of you annoying little kits now." Lucy said.

"Awwwww." The kits whined in unison, but got off all the same. Lucy cracked up at the sight of Buck. He stood, but he was a mess. His fur was completely roughed up, dirt was all through his fur, looked tired, and was also panting.

"I never realized tha' kits were tha' energetic."

"Don't you remember how crazy you were as a kit? You probably had more energy than all those kits put together!" Lucy said, giggling.

"Yeah, bu' tha' was from a kits perspective." Buck said, trying to get rid of the dirt.

"Just go have a wash in the stream." Lucy said.

"Did I hear Regal say somethin' abou' goin' on a hunting trip?"

"Yeah, why?"

"How long will 'e be gone?"

"More than a week." Lucy saw a flash of excitement in Buck's bright eyes. "I'm still wondering why you're asking."

"I'll tell ya later." Buck said. That didn't help. Lucy rolled her eyes and walked with Buck to the stream. It was only just going midday, the day warm and crickets chirped in the bushes around. Buck leaped into the stream straight away and swam around. Lucy sat on the rock and watched.

"Jump in Lucy!" Buck called. Another head popped up next to him and called,

"Yeah, get in."

"Leave me alone Dwain, Buck you too." Lucy called back.

"Why don' ye wanna ge' in?" Buck asked.

"I don't want to get wet." She replied. Buck and Dwain looked at each other at the exact same time, with the same evil grin.

"Oh no." Lucy said, and jumped up. They were faster. Buck grabbed her round the waist and hoisted her up and over his shoulder with ease. Lucy bashed against his back trying not to laugh, but saying,

"Put me down or I'll tell Regal." She heard Buck laugh, and knew he had no fear at all for Regal. He had no fear for anything. Well, except for Jess of course, but everyone was afraid of Jess. Buck tossed her into the water like she was a bundle of feathers. She landed in the water, it seeping into her fur. She came to the surface glaring at Buck and Dwain, but that just made them laugh even harder than before. Lucy leaped and grabbed Buck's ankle.

"Uh oh." was all Buck could say before Lucy yanked him into the water. He fell in with a large splash, and his patch almost slipped off, but he righted it quickly. Only then was Lucy actually curious at what it looked like underneath. He'd lost the eye, but was the scar large, was it a huge whole in his face? She decided to ask him later about it. This thought only just registered when she was tackled into the water by Dwain. Buck crashed onto the pile and sat on Dwain's back, while Dwain's head was still underwater.

"Buck! He might drown."

"He's a frickin' otter, he coul' hold 'is breath for millennia." A second later, Dwain used a burst of energy and stood bolt upright, making Buck fall off and into the water. Dwain and Lucy laughed at Bucks face of disapprove.

"That's it!" Buck yelled and threw himself at both of them. Laughing, yelling and tackling, this went on for at least an hour.

Regal walked to the stream, knowing Lucy would be there. He just hoped she wasn't with the flea bitten Buck. _Even though he doesn't actually have fleas in his fur, his brain is infected with them _Regal thought with a growl. _I'll get him one day, and he'll never return here. _Nearing the stream, he heard laughter and splashing, followed by,

"You ain' getting' away with tha'!" _Damn it. Buck's there. _Regal was planning on saying goodbye to Lucy alone. Regal was very reluctant to leave with Buck still around, but the guy was driving him nuts, so Regal had to leave…now. Regal made his way through the brush. He saw Lucy run at Buck in fake anger, but Buck stuck his foot out and tripped her into the water. _That's the same move he used on me to plummet me into the canyon, the coward. _Dwain the accursed otter was laughing on a rock.

"Nice move Buck." Regal said, and Buck and Dwain looked at him first with surprise. Dwain gave Regal a look, but if Buck had any resentment in him, he hid it well. Lucy's head popped out of the water, and smiled at Regal.

"Hey babe." She said.

"Hey."

"Your leaving now, aren't you?" she said, clearly disappointed. Regal nodded. He beckoned for her to follow him away from the other two, and she got out of the water. He led her into the brush and spoke in a low voice so Buck or Dwain couldn't hear.

"You should be careful around those two. They might hurt you." Lucy rolled her eyes and said,

"They know their own strength. They wouldn't do something stupid." Regal grimaced. She really thought they were fine guys, but Regal thought the opposite. Dwain had worried Regal when they fell underground. Lucy had talked to him often, and Regal had been worried Dwain would try take her. Now, he was worried about Buck as well as Dwain, and what made it worse was they were both friends. Double trouble.

"I just want to make sure." Regal said.

"You're the one who's meant to be careful." Lucy said with a worried expression.

"We'll be fine, don't worry about me." he said, but she looked doubtful. Regal put his hands on her shoulders and kissed her. "We'll be fine." He repeated. Lucy shrugged, but nodded. He kissed her again, and she kissed back. _Good, she's not mad at me. _Regal left then, going to his friends.

"Was she alone?" asked Jeremy, as Regal came into sight. He was sitting atop a raptor, and Adrian was on a raptor next to him.

"No, Buck and Dwain were with her." Jeremy scowled with so much distaste, Regal felt happier knowing the loyalty Jeremy had for him. "Never mind. Come on, let's get out of here." Regal said, mounting his own steed. With a wave of his paw, he and the hunters raced out of the canyon and off on another hunting trip.

When Lucy returned to the others, she was in a less eccentric mood. Instead of jumping into the water and splashing her two friends, she sat on the bank and put her arms around her legs, he chin on her arms. Buck and Dwain looked at each other, then came over to her.

"Don' worry about 'im." Buck said, wringing his long body with several twists of his body.

"But they lost some weasels last time." Lucy almost whispered, her brow crinkling into concern.

"Yeah, but they're smarter this time." Dwain confidently. "They know what to avoid now. Buck learned from experience as well, remember." He shook the water droplets off his fur.

"Yeah, but I didn' 'ave other weasels lives in my hands." Said Buck, then closed his mouth quickly at the look of sadness on Lucy's face. Buck's own features slowly turned to concern, but it wasn't for Regal, but for Lucy. He'd very rarely seen her sad, and clearly didn't like it. Lucy almost laughed. Here she was, worrying over whether her boyfriend would get back in one piece, and Buck was worried about _her. _"Lucy," he said quietly, "It's no use jus' worryin' yerself over him. Wha' happens, happens, an' ye can' change tha'. Enjoy th' time while it's here, don' waste I'." Lucy looked at him with a small smile, and nodded. He was right. She couldn't just waste her time making herself depressed with concern over something she couldn't make a difference about. Regal never lets her go 'too far' into the jungle, because he thought she was a defenseless, weak little girl that couldn't take care of herself. The only time she'd been far outside the village was when Buck took her to the five fig trees with the birds. She'd never told Regal about that, because he would be mad. She hated that, but also saw why he thought like that. Never had she been in a fight or had to protect herself, unlike him. He'd been attacked by other weasels, including Buck and…Jai. Lucy immediately shoved that thought away. She couldn't think about Jai, otherwise Anna would get into her head.

Buck saw the realization in Lucy's eyes. She knew he was right. Then something else came into her beautiful emerald eyes. A pain that was deep. Deep with longing, regret, sadness...a million feelings that she was trying to hide from both of them. Dwain sighed and stood, then said,

"Well, this place is depressing. I'll see you guys later." He left, whistling a tune. Lucy smiled sadly as she watched the dark colored fur disappear into the water. Buck laid back with his arms behind his head and closed his eye. He laid there silent for several minutes, while Lucy just sat and stared at the water, her back facing him. Buck opened his eye and glanced at her a couple of times, but she was in the same position, with the same troubled face. Finally Buck sat up and said,

"Seriously, Lucy. Dwain was righ', you're makin' this place depressing', so stop thinkin' about 'im, or I'm gonna leave as well." Lucy looked back and said,

"I'm not thinking about Regal."

"Then what the hell is makin' you look like there's dead bodies in front of ya?" Buck almost yelled. He really hated others being sad, especially Lucy.

"Well…I'm trying not to think about Anna." It was like a fist had bashed Buck in the chest. Anna. He'd honestly forgotten she'd existed. After Jai…was gone, Buck had tried to forget anything that had been involved with him, including the girl he'd loved. Thinking back, Buck remembered seeing her a bit around the village, but he hadn't registered it at the time.

"Oh damn, I…I never thought about her at all." Buck said sadly. Lucy looked at him, her face matching his voice. Tears welled in her eyes as she whispered,

"I miss her so much."

"Miss her? Why? Don' you guys talk anymore." Buck asked cautiously, trying not to make it worse. Lucy shook her head, then put her head in her paws and said through gasps as she wept,

"She hates me. She hates me so bad. I thought…when Regal and me started going out, that she would forget what happened to Jai and let go of it, so we could still be friends, like everyone else. But she didn't. She hates him so badly, she cut herself from me completely. She's only talked to me on two occasions since, and those were times when she yelled at me for betraying Jai's memory and her friendship." Lucy wept until she couldn't anymore. The first thing Buck felt was surprise, then anger. He hated Regal more than Anna does for sure, but he had not thought Lucy a betrayer.

"Lucy, that's no' your faul'," he said confidently, turning Lucy's face to his, "It's your life, remember. Anna shouldn't judge you for goin' out with Regal. That's her faul' for no' lettin' go. The rest of us just clearly care about you more than she does." He knew the last part was the wrong thing to say, but it was true. They'd all cared about Lucy enough, and liked her enough, to not do what Anna had. Anna was the traitor, not Lucy. And as far as betraying Jai's memory goes, Buck could have yelled at Anna for that. Buck, and Buck alone, truly knew Jai, and he was less forgiving than Buck, but also wouldn't have cut off Lucy because she was dating Regal .He was never _that _stupid.

"But I think she might be right, I'm not giving enough respect to Jai." Said Lucy, almost arguing with the thought Buck had just had. He laughed and Lucy looked at him in surprise. He stopped and looked at her, then said,

"Trust me, if I' was Jai sitting here, he would be laughin' at what you jus' said with me," he winked as he continued with, "he never would think badly of you for goin' out with Regal, so don' be so torn up about I'." he patted her on the back, and she smiled, but she couldn't hide the doubt in her eyes. Buck decided it was almost useless to press the matter, and this called for a distraction.

"Come on Lucy. I'm gonna take ya north. There's brush land up there that'll have plenty o' harder t' find herbs in I'." he stood, and held out his hand to her. For a second, Lucy hesitated, not sure she should be leaving the village, but then took Bucks hand and stood. He let go, then started heading north. Walking from deep jungle, the trees got shorter and farther apart. Thorny bushes were showing themselves, that Buck avoided easily. At one point, Buck immediately stood still and stopped Lucy from taking another step. He simply pointed at the ground when he saw her puzzled expression. Across the ground was a purple vine, and on it were little spines.

"It'll hurt like hell if ye step on them, and it doesn't go away for a week. I learnt tha' the hard way." Lucy made sure to know not to step on them. A few minutes later, Buck grabbed her arm and pulled her back, stopping her from walking into a vine, hanging from the trees. This time, the vine was green, and had hooked thorns that were meaner and sharper.

"This one's called wait-a-while. So named, because of you get stuck in I', it'll take ages to ge' ou', and the hooks dig deep."

"You also learned that the hard way?"

"Yup."  
Continuing on they passed a stream, and small hills only about a meter tall were on the banks, trees and vegetation growing out of them. Again, near one of the mounds, Buck stopped Lucy again.

"What is it this time?" she complained with an exaggerated grunt. Buck laughed, then showed her a plant to her left. It wasn't large, with pretty heart-shaped leaves on it. She'd almost brushed against it. "This one's pretty." Lucy said, leaning into look. Buck held her back firmly. "I wasn't going to touch it." she said to him.

"Ye don' need t'. It's called stinging tree, and for good reason. It grows into a full on tree, and the leaves and stems are covered in little tiny weeny thorns, but they itch like hell when you get them on ya, and they can travel through the air, so you can get them in yer ears, eyes, throat and nose." Lucy looked alarmingly at the plant and stepped back. "Hey, that ain' the worst of I'. It won' stop stingin' for ages, more than weeks, an' often, years. One of the brontos go' one on their foot. He eventually died because all he was doin' was lyin' down and scratchin' it, and he'd lasted a year an' a half. Only eating what 'e could reach from the ground, then 'e was back t' biting the itch away from his foot." Buck turned a little sad at this. He really did care about the dinos. They continued, and it was getting a little late.

"Hm. Maybe this shoulda waited 'til tomorrow to do this." Buck said. "Whoops." Lucy started to feel tendrils of fear starting to crawl into her chest with the falling light. They were miles from the canyon, and she couldn't just run back if trouble. She then got mad at herself. _See, this is why Regal won't let you go out, because he thinks you can't take care of yourself. Prove him wrong. _Lucy took a deep breath, cutting back the fear angrily, then looked at Buck and said confidently,  
"No, I want to find those herbs." Then she walked past him.

Buck could only stare after her. One minute, he could see the fear crawl ever so slowly into her eyes, then it disappeared with a flash, and replaced with an angry, almost hungry, confidence. She walked with a stride, and taking note of where to put her feet, to make sure she didn't run into any of the evil plants Buck had warned her about. Buck caught up with her, to lead her in the right direction, for it didn't occur to Lucy she would've gone in the wrong direction after a while. They still had at least an hour of daylight left. After only a few minutes of walking together in silence, a noise caught their attention. It was a dinosaur call. Buck pricked his ears to try and identify it. It was one of the miniature versions of a triceratops, but they didn't have horns or a crown, and only grew to about six feet tall. Leptoceratops. There was another thing strange about it. It was…distressed. After Buck realized this he turned to Lucy quickly and said,  
"Come on! We've gotta find it."

He started running in the direction of the calls, to the west, but avoided the dangers all the same. He jumped easily over a log, and Lucy tried to follow, but her legs caught on the log and she landed on the ground on the other side flat on her back. Buck only stopped for a second to let her catch up, then he was off again. Lucy was getting tired quickly, and Buck was racing ahead of her.

"Buck wait!" she called. He surprisingly did. Lucy caught up and said,

"Why don't we take the trees?"

"There aren' enough vines in this area. We'd by flyin' one minute, then fallin' the next. You'll jus' have t' try an' keep up." Then he was off again. Lucy hadn't thought about there being no vines. She shrugged, then followed after Buck. He always stopped just enough to keep in her view, but soon he had to stop too often. Lucy was pretty much just jogging.

"Buck, I'll just catch up with you." She yelled when he stopped the next time.

"I wouldn't leave you behind. Somethin' might decide to make you a snack."

"Then I'll change its mind."

The way she said it pretty much convinced him. He ran off, but made sure that every now and then he scratched a tree with his knife, dealing with the problem of Lucy maybe getting lost. He believed she would just have followed his scent anyway, but he did this to make sure, because he could smell other weasels close by. Quite a few of them. And Buck bet the one leading them, had blood red fur.

Lucy smelt it. Weasel. She could only think that Regal's pack was nearby. Lucy got excited and picked up the pace as much as she could, and soon spotted the gashes left on trees. _He thinks of everything _she thought, knowing Buck was making sure she didn't get was too excited about finding Regal's pack that she almost forgot about the dinosaur distress call, and wasn't putting together the conclusion that Buck was.

Buck stopped just before the small clearing. In it was the young Leptoceratops, only about three feet tall. Surrounding it, twenty to one, was Regal's gang, every single one of them on a mini-raptor. In each of their paws was a mean looking weapon made of stone, vine, wood, or bone. Buck heard Lucy come up behind him, so he signaled for her to be quiet. They both his behind a tree and watched. The Leptoceratops was giving the call over and over, scared of the strangers around it. They all wore malicious smiles. Buck quickly looked for Adrian. The teenager was trying to put on the smile, but no emotion could escape Buck's blue eye. Adrian was terrified and uncertain. The gang was circling the small creature, then Regal stepped forward on his raptor. He held a whip in his right paw, and raised it. Buck covered Lucy's mouth so she couldn't scream, when Regal brought the whip down on the creature. The Leptoceratops gave a pain-filled cry, and stepped away from the cause of it, getting closer to the weasels of the other side. On through a spear into its side, and another whipped continuously at the creatures sides and legs. Then, all the weasels joined in. Buck watched Adrian try and fake it, but sometimes had to jab or scratch the creature with his knife to make it look like he was having fun. He wasn't. The Leptoceratops was trying to fight back, throwing its head to try and thwack the nuisance away, or trying to whip them with its tail, and even occasionally rearing to try stomp them, but all it earned was a few lashes to the underbelly. Buck tried turning Lucy away from the scene. He could see tears in her eyes. But she didn't turn, no, she _refused _to turn away from the horrible sight before them. Buck gave up, but made sure Lucy wasn't going to give away their position by crying out. The torture went on for almost an hour, when the sky was turning dark. Then, the weasels stepped back. Regal went to the creature, which still stood, but its head hung in pain. Blood dripped from its sides and fell to the ground beneath it. The color matched Regal's fur. The Red Weasel was holding a serrated sword made of tooth in his hand. It was long and pin-point sharp. Buck again tried getting Lucy away, but she shoved his hands away. _Please Regal, just put the creature out its misery. Just end the pain for it. _Buck was pleading that Regal had enough sense to do at least that. Secretly, down in the deepest part of Bucks hard- to- find heart, he knew that wasn't going to happen. He watched, feeling so damn guilty he hadn't stopped it while he could. Regal jumped onto the creature nose, then ran down the length of its spine, dragging the bone knife behind him, and cutting a huge gash down to the bone of the spine of the poor creature. It fell to the ground, calling and crying, and it almost broke Bucks heart to hear it like this. Regal laughed, then mounted his raptor, and led his gang away from the scene, Regal red fur matching the blood of the creature, and the colour of the world at sunset bathed the underground world in blood red light.


End file.
